Registration of Nominating Organizations for National Minority Self-Government by-elections
Registration of Nominating Organizations for National Minority Self-Government by-elections
A by-election for national minority self-government representatives must be called:
- If the general election was inconclusive,
- If the local government has not been established following the general election,
By-elections must also be held if the representative body/assembly was dissolved, or if the representative body/assembly declared its dissolution.
In these cases, however, the prerequisite for calling the by-election is that the national minority self-government advances the costs of the by-election.
The costs of preparing and conducting the by-election must be covered from the national minority self-government's budget if the by-election is necessary because:
- The representative body/assembly was dissolved,
- The representative body/assembly declared its dissolution.
The national minority self-government must advance the costs of the by-election to the election office operating alongside the election commission responsible for calling the by-election, before the election date is set.
By-elections shall be held only for vacant seats if the number of representatives falls below the number required for the functioning of the representative body/general assembly.
The task of calling the by-election lies with the regionally competent election commission.
The by-elections for local national minority self-government representatives shall be scheduled by the local election commission, the by-elections for regional national minority self-government representatives shall be scheduled by the regional election commission, and the by-elections for national minority self-government representatives at a country level shall be scheduled by the National Election Commission.
In accordance with the rules for general elections, a national minority organization registered in the court registry of civil organizations at the time of the by-election may be registered as the nominating organization.
The concept of a national minority organization is defined in Section 2(14) of Act 2011 CLXXIX on the Rights of National Minorities. According to this law, a national minority organization is an association, registered in the court registry of civil organizations, whose statutes (at least three years before the national minority self-government election year) specify the goal of representing a particular national minority, excluding political parties and trade unions.
A National Minority Organization can only represent one nationality!
Form P7 is available for registering a national minority organization as a nominating organization. The form may be signed by a person authorized to represent the nominating organization. The right of representation of the person authorized to represent the organization may be based on a power of attorney recorded in the court registry of civil organizations or on a power of attorney recorded in a public deed or a private deed with full probative force. The contact details of the electoral bodies can be found here.
The person authorized to represent the organization (or, in the case of joint signing rights, its representatives) must sign formP7. The form can then be submitted by anyone without authorization to the election body indicated above.
The form can be submitted electronically or by mail. In the case of electronic submission, the form must be authenticated by the qualified or advanced electronic signature of the legal representative of the nominating organization.
National minority organizations intending to nominate a joint candidate or list must register separately as nominating organizations with the election commission responsible for registration.
Proxy
The form P7 may only be signed by the legal representative of the nominating organization listed in the court registry of civil organizations.
The legal representative listed in the court registry may designate a representative authorized to make general statements regarding the nominating organization on form P7.
The legal representative listed in the court registry and the representative authorized to make statements as specified in form P7 may register additional authorized representatives with the local election commission that registered the organization. The powers of these authorized representatives may be limited to certain procedural acts (requesting a recommendation form, registering a candidate, registering a national minority observer) or to a specific area (e.g., a municipality). Persons with general powers of representation and those whose procedural powers cover all types of cases but whose powers of representation are restricted on a regional basis must be recorded in the electoral IT system. In the case of persons whose restriction is not regional, there is no possibility of registration; in their case, the power of attorney and its registration are done on paper.
The election office records the details of the legal representative(s) listed in the court registry and the authorised representatives registered as described above in the electoral IT system, so that these persons can act on behalf of the election bodies after their identity has been verified.
Representatives listed in the electoral IT system may transfer their authorization to other representatives in writing (in a private document with full probative force).
Official name, abbreviated name of the Nominating Organization
Form P7 must indicate the official name of the nominating organization, which must in all cases correspond to the name of the national minority organization as it appears in the court registry of civil organizations. The electronic registry of civil organizations is available here.
It is also possible to record the abbreviated name of the national minority organization on the internet and on the ballot paper, which is primarily the abbreviated name listed in the registry of civil organizations, or, in the absence thereof, another abbreviated name indicated at the time of registration, which, however, may not be identical to the name or abbreviated name of another organization already registered in the court registry of civil organizations or in the registry of nominating organizations, candidates, and lists for the given by-election. In the absence of an abbreviated name entered in the court registry, an abbreviated name may be given at the time of registration which is grammatically related to the official name of the national minority organization (e.g., an abbreviation or an acronym formed from it) or which has a logical connection with the activities of the national minority organization.
The abbreviated name will only be displayed on the ballot paper if the nominating organization requests it on the P7 form at the time of registration. The deadline is final, meaning that if it is missed, the abbreviated name requested after registration will only be displayed on the information page, not on the ballot paper.
The name of the nominating organization must be indicated in the same form on all recommendation forms and ballot papers, regardless of any change in the name of the nominating organization. This rule means that if the name of the nominating organization changes after the collection of recommendations has begun, the changed name will not appear on the recommendation forms requested after the first issue of the forms or on the ballot papers.
To ensure equal treatment of organizations, all nominating organizations’ names will be displayed on the ballot paper in uppercase letters, using the same font and size.
The logo of the Nominating Organization
The national minority organization may attach its logo to Form P7 at the time of registration. The logo file must be in JPG format, with a resolution of 472×236 pixels and 300 dpi, and must be submitted together with the registration form. The deadline for submitting the logo is binding, meaning that it will appear on the ballot paper only if the nominating organization requests it on Form P7 at the time of submission.
It is also important to note that, according to Section 5(1) of Act CCII of 2011 on the Use of the Coat of Arms and Flag of Hungary and on State Honours, the coat of arms of Hungary –including its distinguishable parts, such as the shield and the Holy Crown – may not be used as a symbol or as part of a symbol by a nominating organization.
The Name of the National Minority Organization in the Language of the National Minority
The nominating organization may request that the ballot paper include its official name and abbreviated name in the language of the national minority. In this case, when registering the organization, a file in MS Word format containing the name of the nominating organization in capital letters must also be attached to the form.
Registration of the Nominating Organization
The nominating organization must be registered with the appropriate election commission:
- must be registered with the local election commission with regional jurisdiction in the case of a municipal by-election;
- with the regional election commission with regional jurisdiction in the case of a regional by-election;
- with the National Election Commission in the case of a national by-election
The registration is completed by submitting the P7 form to the election office operating alongside the election commission authorized to register the nominating organization.
The competent election commission shall verify whether the national minority organization has had the representation of the national minority specified as its goal in its statutes for at least three years prior to the year of the national minority election.
If the organization’s registration meets all legal requirements, the election commission shall register it no later than the fourth day following the submission.