Information on requesting, release, use and deletion of national minority voters in the event of a general national minority election

In the general election of representatives of national minority self-governments, national minority organizations are entitled to receive the name, address, age, and gender of voters who are registered in the electoral register as voters of the specific national minority and are eligible to recommend and vote.

All data provision is free of charge.

The competent election office – simultaneously with the handover of the recommendation sheets – will provide the nominating organization, free of charge, with the names and addresses of the voters eligible to recommend a candidate. The database is complete, as the prohibition on data disclosure pursuant to section 89 (1) of the Election Procedure Act (Ve.) does not extend to this data provision. Therefore, this data may only be used for the gathering of recommendations; any other use, copying, or transferring to third parties is strictly prohibited.

The nominating organization can access the electoral register data – free of charge – on two further occasions, on the 38th and 13th day before the election, based on a written request. This data will no longer include the names and addresses of voters who have prohibited the disclosure of their data, and it may only be used for the purpose of direct political campaigning.

The following representatives of the national minority organization are entitled to request (for direct political campaigning) and receive the data:

• the legal representative listed in the public 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, or
• person(s) authorized by the above-mentioned individuals in a private deed of full probative force or a public deed.

The request must include the following information:

• the name of the requesting national minority organization as registered in the court register,
• the legal basis for the request, i.e., reference must be made to section 317 (4) b) of the Electoral Procedure Act (Ve.) or to the fact that the data request is for the purpose of using electoral register data for direct political campaigning,
• date, name and signature of the applicant.

The request can be submitted:

• electronically,
• in person, or
• by post.

In the case of sending the request by post, it can only be fulfilled if it arrives at the competent election office by the 38th or 13th day before the election.

National minority organizations 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 to the election office that provided the data within three days.

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!

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.