Local government by-elections

Request, transfer, use and deletion of data of voters in the polling station electoral register

Pursuant to section 153 (1) of Act XXXVI of 2013 on Electoral Procedure (hereinafter: Ve.), the name, address, age, and gender of voters included in the polling station electoral register – taking into account the provisions of section 89 – shall be provided in the case of a by-election for local government representatives and/or mayor:

a) upon the request of the candidate – concerning the relevant constituency – by the local election office operating alongside the local election commission competent for the candidate's registration, or in the case of a candidate for Mayor of the Capital, by the Capital City Election Office,

b) upon the request of the nominating organization having a compensation/county/metropolitan list – limited to the constituencies indicated by the nominating organization that are affected by the by-election – by the National Election Office,

immediately after the payment of the data provision fee, but no earlier than after the registration becomes legally binding pursuant to Section 132 of the Ve.

The request for data provision can only be submitted in writing. The data provision does not include the name, address, age, and gender of voters who have prohibited the disclosure of their data pursuant to section 89 (1) of the Ve.

A request for data provision pursuant to section 153 (1) a) of the Ve. can be submitted:

• to the local election office operating alongside the local election commission competent for the candidate's registration,
• in the case of a candidate for Mayor of the Capital, to the Capital City Election Office,

after the candidate's registration becomes legally binding.

The contact details of the local election offices and the Capital City Election Office can be found here.

A request pursuant to point b) can be submitted to the National Election Office after the list's registration becomes legally binding, as follows:

• electronically, after electronic identification, sent to nvb@nvi.hu or to the Official Gate System of the National Election Office,
• in person at 1054 Budapest, Alkotmány St. 3., during office hours, or
• by post to 1397 Budapest, Pf.: 547.

The contact details of the election offices can be found here.

The election office determines the data provision fee on the day of the request's submission (or on the next working day if the request is submitted on a non-working day) based on the number of voters in the polling station electoral register. The office informs the applicant about the calculated fee by email, or orally in case of a request was submitted in person. The election office provides the data immediately after the payment of the data provision fee, but no earlier than after the candidate's registration becomes legally binding. The crediting of the fee to the National Election Office's account is not a prerequisite for fulfilling the data provision; it is sufficient to credibly prove the fact of payment (including the content of the notification) to the election office (e.g., with a photo of the mobile banking transaction screen or a transfer receipt).

The data provision fee is three Hungarian forints per voter included in the data provision. The name and address of the candidate/nominating organization must be indicated in the transfer's comment section.

The National Election Office's account number is: 10032000-00333616-00000000.

The requested electoral register data will be provided:

• in the case of section 153 (1) a) of the Ve., in a manner determined by the election office competent for the candidate's registration (e.g., handover in paper form or on an electronic data carrier).

The election office will hand over the data of the voters in the polling station electoral register on the day of the request's submission, even if the proof of payment of the data provision fee is not provided on the day of the request.

The following persons are entitled to receive the data provision:

1, the candidate, or

2, a person with a power of attorney in a private deed of full probative force or a public deed issued by the candidate.

The following persons are entitled to request and receive the data provision on behalf of the legally registered nominating organization:

• the legal representative according to the court register of civil organizations,
• a person authorized on the nominating organization's notification form by the legal representative to make declarations on behalf of the nominating organization,
• a person with a power of attorney in a private deed of full probative force or a public deed issued by the persons specified in the previous points.

The transferred data may only be used for the purpose of direct political campaigning; any other use, copying, or transfer to third parties is strictly prohibited!

Candidates must delete the provided data – regardless of the date of the fulfillment of the request – no later than 4:00 PM on election day, and the minutes prepared on this must be submitted within three days to the election office that was obliged to fulfill the electoral register data provision, i.e., from where the electoral register data provision was received.

In case of unauthorized use of the data, or violation of the obligation to delete the data while sending the minutes of deletion – based on an objection to this effect – a fine may be imposed!

Furthermore, we draw the attention of all candidates and nominating organizations to the fact that the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH) has published a recommendation on the handling of election-related data, which all parties involved are advised to take into account. The NAIH's recommendations can be viewed at the following link