Candidates for the parliamentary by-election may only be nominated on a numbered recommendation sheet issued by the parliamentary single-member constituency election office (hereinafter: election office). Voters who are eligible to vote in the single-member constituency affected by the by-election may nominate candidates. At least 500 valid recommendations from voters in the single-member constituency are required for nomination.

Request for referrals

The recommendation sheet shall be submitted by the voter who intends to run as an independent candidate in the parliamentary single-member constituency, or a person authorized to represent a legally registered nominating organization may request the election office operating alongside the election commission with the authority and jurisdiction to register candidates after the announcement of the parliamentary by-election.

It is important to note that a recommendation sheet can only be requested by voters who are eligible to vote at the time of submission.

The request must be submitted using form A1, which can be submitted by anyone, without authorization, at the election office of the place of departure.

The application must be submitted to the single-member constituency election office of the country of departure:

a) electronically:

• in accordance with the rules of electronic administration, via the official portal or company portal,
• by e-mail with a certified or enhanced security electronic signature or authenticated by a document authentication service (AVDH) traceable to identification, or

b) in person by the representative of the nominating organization or the independent candidate, or

c) through a third party, if the form has been previously signed by the representative of the nominating organization, or

d) by a postal service provider.

Voters who intend to run as candidates on form A1 may also consent to the publication of their photograph on the official website of the elections. In this case, the photograph must be attached to the form in a JPEG file with a resolution of 240X340 pixels in portrait format.

When nominating a joint candidate, the A1 form must also indicate which nominating organization the candidate belongs to in terms of party budgetary support.

The candidate of the nominating organization must also declare that he or she undertakes to repay the party support referred to in Section 1 of the Act on the Transparency of Campaign Costs for the Election of Members of Parliament in the event that the debt cannot be recovered from the party.

Name

If the candidate has more than one surname, when requesting the recommendation sheets, they may request on the A1 form that the recommendation sheets, the ballot paper, and the official website of the elections contain only one of their surnames, and they may also request that the title "Dr." be omitted from their name. Once the recommendation sheets have been issued for the first time, the legal declaration regarding the use of names can no longer be changed.

Receipt of recommendation sheets

The election office shall, upon request, immediately, but no earlier than 50 days prior to the election, provide the applicant or the voter intending to run as a candidate with the requested number of recommendation sheets. The election office shall assign a unique identification number to each recommendation sheet.

Fort he receipt of recommendation sheets

• the voter intending to stand as a candidate,
• the person designated to receive the sheets on the A1 form used to request recommendation sheets;
• the following representative of the nominating organization registered with legal force:

a) the legal representative(s), i.e. the person who is the representative of the organization according to the court registry of civil organizations;

b) the person indicated in point 10 of form P1,

c) a person authorized by the persons referred to in points a) and b),

d) a person authorized by the persons referred to in points a) to c) with a power of attorney in the form of a private document or public document with full probative force

is entitled.

The election office will issue a receipt for the submission of the recommendation sheet. It is strictly forbidden to make copies of the recommendation sheets, even if they are not yet filled out.

Additional recommendation sheets may be requested until the deadline for candidate registration, i.e., by 4:00 p.m. on the 37th day prior to the election, by submitting another A1 form.

If the name of the voter intending to run as a candidate or the nominating organization changes after the initial issuance of the recommendation sheets, this change will not be reflected on the additional recommendation sheets requested.

Collecting recommendations

The recommendation sheet shall contain the name, personal identification number, and Hungarian address of the recommending voter. The recommendation sheet must be signed by the recommending voter in their own handwriting. In the presence of the voter, another person may write their details on the recommendation sheet, but their own signature is still required in this case.

The recommendation sheet must also include the name and personal identification number of the person collecting the recommendations, or the number and signature of their official identification document (ID card/passport/driving license). It is important that voters who intend to run as independent candidates and nominating organizations pay special attention to ensuring that the person collecting the recommendations provides their details accurately on the recommendation sheet. If the collector provides incomplete or incorrect information (e.g., misspells their personal identification number, or provides their married name instead of their birth name), all recommendations on the recommendation sheet will be invalidated.

Voters may recommend more than one candidate, but may only support one candidate with one recommendation; any additional recommendations will be invalid. Recommendations cannot be withdrawn.

Recommendations can be collected anywhere without harassment, except in the following cases:

• At the workplace of the person collecting the recommendations during working hours,
• At the workplace of the voter making the recommendation during working hours,
• While fulfilling work obligations of the person collecting recommendations under an employment or similar relationship,
• While fulfilling the work obligations of the voter making the recommendation under an employment or similar relationship,
• From a member of the Hungarian Armed Forces or a central government employee at their workplace or while fulfilling their duties,
• On public transportation,
• In the offices of state, local, and national minority local government bodies,
• In higher education and public education institutions,
• In healthcare service facilities,
• On private property open to the public without the owner's prior written consent.

Recommendations collected in violation of the recommendation rules are invalid. It is prohibited to give or promise any advantage to the voter making the recommendation.

We would also like to draw the attention of all candidates and nominating organizations to the fact that the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH) (hereinafter: NAIH) publishes (www.naih.hu) recommendations on data processing in connection with elections on its website, which all parties concerned should take into account.

NAIH's recommendations can be viewed at the following link: https://www.naih.hu/adatvedelmi-ajanlasok

The election commission shall register candidates who meet the legal requirements no later than four days after the notification.

If the election commission refuses to register the candidate due to an insufficient number of recommendations, the independent candidate or the nominating organization may request additional signature recommendation sheets until the 37th day prior to the vote by submitting a new A1 form.

The additional recommendations collected and submitted by the deadline shall be added to the recommendations already submitted.

The general submission deadlines also apply to the additional sheets requested, so the completed sheets may be submitted by 4 p.m. on the 37th day prior to the vote, and the blank sheets may be submitted by 4 p.m. the following day without penalty.

Rules governing the nomination of joint individual candidates

In by-elections for members of the National Assembly, two or more parties registered as nominating organizations may jointly nominate individual candidates for constituencies.

The recommendation sheet must be requested together by the nominating organizations participating in the nomination of the joint candidate using form A1.

Disqualification of a candidate

A candidate shall be disqualified if

- he or she is removed from the central electoral register,

- he or she loses the right to stand for election,

- his or her nominating organization, or all nominating organizations participating in the nomination of a joint candidate, are removed from the register of nominating organizations, candidates, and lists before the start of voting,

- they withdraw their candidacy in writing by 4 p.m. on the second day before the vote, after electronic identification, by submitting a statement in person or through an authorized representative to the election office operating under the election committee responsible for registration.

The statement of withdrawal must be submitted to the election office of the place of departure, either in person or by an authorized representative. The withdrawal shall take effect upon receipt of the statement by the election office, provided that it is submitted by the deadline indicated above.