Enrolment in/modification of/extension of/deletion from the central electoral register

Any voter who does not have a Hungarian domicile can apply for

• enrolment in the central electoral register,
• extension of the registration,
• modification of data,
• removal from the register.

Who’s eligible

Voters who have reached the age of 17, or are married before reaching the age of 18, and are Hungarian citizens and do not have a Hungarian address.

How to proceed

A request must be submitted for absentee voting.

The request may be submitted electronically, in person, or by proxy.

1. Electronically

The request may be submitted electronically, with or without electronic identification on the website www.magyarorszag.hu, by clicking here.

2. The request may be submitted in person or by a proxy at any foreign representation or  local election office.

The request may be submitted in person or by proxy, the form required for submitting the application can be filled out and printed here.

The request will be processed by the National Election Office through an automatic decision-making procedure.

2. In person or by proxy at any diplomatic mission or consular post or at any local election office.

An applicant who appears in person is entitled to make an application orally, and a person authorised to accept service of documents is entitled to make an application by handing in a form completed by the applicant.

3. By post, addressed to the National Election Office or to any foreign representation.

The form required for submitting the request by post (in PDF format) can be downloaded here.

The National Electoral Office will decide on the application by an automatic decision-making procedure.

The decision regarding the request (notification of acceptance or a resolution regarding rejection) will be sent by the National Election Office to the voter’s storage place of Client Gate+ system or of the Digital Citizenship Program mobile application (if they have one). When submitting the request, it is possible to provide a notification address where the National Election Office will send the decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the request.

If the voter does not have storage place of Client Gate+ system or Digital Citizenship Program mobile application, the decision must be delivered – if requested – by email, post, or in person. Otherwise, it will be sent by post to the voter’s registered address.

Voters living abroad are listed in the central electoral register for 10 years. The 10-year period is calculated from the date on which the voter was entered in the register. However, the 10-year period shall restart if the voter has voted or requested a change of their notification address, ballot paper collection location or foreign address, or an extension of their entry in the register.

Deadlines

The application can be submitted at any time.

The National Electoral Office will decide on the application immediately, but not later than 24 hours from the date of its submission or the opening of the procedure.

Attention! If the application is submitted during the period of the scheduled election, the applicant may participate in the scheduled election if his/her application is received by the 25th day before the election day. 

Documents to submit

No additional documents need to be submitted other than the request.

Payment obligation

Submitting the request does not incur any payment obligation.

Acting public authority

The National Election Office.

1054 Budapest, Alkotmány u. 3.

Postal address: National Election Office, 1397 Budapest, P.O. Box: 547.

Email: visz@nvi.hu

Website: http://www.nvi.hu

For further contact and opening hours: https://www.valasztas.hu/en/elerhetosegi-adatok

Supreme authority / remedy

An appeal may be lodged against the decision of the National Election Office assessing the application.

The appeal may be lodged no later than the thirtieth day after the decision is taken.

The appeal must be submitted in writing to the National Election Office.

• by email: to fellebbezes@nvi.hu or
• by post: National Election Office, 1397 Budapest, PO Box 547. or
• electronically with electronic identification via thee-paper service.

If the National Election Office considers the appeal to be justified, it shall register the voter in the central electoral register in accordance with the appeal, extend their registration in the central electoral register, modify their notification address and ballot paper receipt data, or delete their data from the central electoral register.

If the President of the National Election Office rejects the appeal, the appeal will be forwarded to the Budapest Metropolitan Court no later than the last day of the deadline for its decision. The National Election Office will notify you of the above (on its website or on the contact details you have provided).

The Budapest Metropolitan Court shall decide on the appeal no later than the fifteenth day following its receipt, or within three days following its receipt in the case of a decision taken after the election has been called, but no later than the day before the vote. You will be notified of this decision directly by the Budapest Metropolitan Court.

Representation by a lawyer is not mandatory in the proceedings of the Budapest Metropolitan Court, which acts as a single judge.

Further information

The National Election Office processes the application, makes and delivers the decision - for all application forms - by using the electoral IT system, without human intervention, in the framework of an automatic decision-making procedure, with the following exceptions:

• For requests submitted in person or via a proxy, the official will carry out:
• • identity verification,
  • registration of the request, and delivery of the decision.

• administrative assistance shall be provided in the cases specified in Sections 112(2)-(3) of Act XXXVI of 2013 on Electoral Procedure (hereinafter: Act) (e.g. the address of the mobile ballot box specified in the application cannot be found in the register of constituencies and polling stations, or there is a discrepancy between the applicant's application and the data in the central electoral register). Following the intervention of the administrator, the assessment of the application continues within the framework of automatic decision-making procedure.

Contact details of local election offices if the application is submitted in person, by proxy or by post to the local election office:

https://www.valasztas.hu/elerhetosegek

Definitions

address in Hungary: the address of the registered place of residence in Hungary; for persons with neither a registered place of residence in Hungary nor abroad, the address of the registeredtemporaryplace of residence in Hungary.

central electoral register: electronic register kept by the National Election Office. The voter who is registered in the central electoral register may exercise his/her right to vote.

official identity card: valid identity card, passport and driving licence issued by a Hungarian authority.

The procedure for processing your application:

The National Election Office, in the framework of the automatic decision-making procedure

• checks whether the application is fully completed,
• checks whether the personal data given in the application correspond exactly to the data in the central electoral register or, in the case of applicants not yet in the central electoral register, in the civil registry or, if the applicant has given a passport or driving licence number in the application, in the relevant register, and
• checks whether the applicant is of age or over 17,
• checks whether citizens who are not entitled to vote have not been disqualified by a Hungarian court from exercising the right to vote,
• in the case of a request for amendment of data, whether the data(s) to be amended can be transferred to the register,
• in the case of an application for renewal or cancellation of registration, whether the legal conditions for renewal or cancellation are met.

Pursuant to Section 95 (4) of Act XXXVI of 2013, the decision of the National Election Office is valid without signature and stamp.

Relevant legislation

Act XXXVI of 2013 on Electoral Procedure

17/2013 (VII.17.) KIM Decree on the keeping of the central electoral register of voters and other electoral registers