Appeals may be lodged against the decisions of the local and single-member constituency election commissions and the regional election commissions of first instance.

The system of legal remedies for each type of election is as follows:

Legend:

1: Ve.: Act XXXVI of 2013 on the election procedure

2: Nsztv.: Act CCXXXVIII of 2013 on initiating referendums, the European Citizens’ Initiative and referendum procedure

Pursuant to section 221 (2) of the Ve., no appeal may be lodged against

- the decision recorded in the minutes,

- the decision of the second-instance election commission and

- the decision of the National Election Commission.

[The latter two are subject to judicial review pursuant to section 222 (1) of the Ve.]

The rules governing the submission of appeals are contained in sections 221 and 223-232 of the Ve. The current text of the act is available on the valasztas.hu website under the menu item Voters/Information for voters/Legislation.

1. The appellant [section 221 (1) and section 223 (2) of the Ve.]

An appeal may be lodged against the decision of the first-instance election commission (except for the NEC) by

- a natural person,

- a legal person,

- an organization without legal personality.

The Ve. excludes the election commission that acted in the first instance and its members from the circle of those entitled to appeal.

When assessing appeals, the second-instance election commissions must in all cases examine if the appellant is affected by the case. This means that even in second-instance proceedings, the person submitting the appeal must prove that he / she has the right to appeal.

Based on current legal practice, the following conclusions can be drawn regarding the proof of standing in the matter when submitting an appeal:

• The Ve. does not define the concept of being affected. For this reason, the authorities must examine on a case-by-case basis whether the applicant's rights, legitimate interests, and obligations are directly affected by the case in question, as stated in the appeal.
• The person submitting the appeal must prove that the alleged infringement directly affects his/her own rights and obligations. It is not sufficient to indicate that he / she is a voter or that the objection on which the contested decision is based was submitted by the petitioner. These are matters of principle and procedural context that do not make a specific infringement of rights likely.
• There is no place for ex officio evidence in the examination of being concerned, in all cases, it is the obligation of the person filing the appeal to prove it.

Some decisions of the Curia of Hungary dealing with the issue of being concerned:

[No.Kvk.VI.38.006/2019/2., Kvk.II.38.216/2019/2., Kvk.VI.37.639/2019/3., Kvk.I.38.318/2019/2.,Kvk.III.38.295/2019/2, Kvk.VI.37.688/2019/5. Kvk.I.37.640/2019/4. Kvk.I.37.513/2019/2. , Kvk.I.37.510/2019/2. orders of the Curia of Hungary.]

2. Method and place of filing an appeal [section 223 (1), section 224 (1) and section 231 (3) of the Ve.]

Like objections, appeals may only be submitted in writing to the election commission that issued the contested decision and must be sent to the contact details of the election office operating alongside the commission. The contact details of the election offices operating alongside the local, constituency and regional election commissions can be found here.

The Ve. makes an exception to the general rule regarding the place of submission, on the basis of which the appeal may also be submitted to the commission competent to decide on it.

It is important to note that there is no legal institution of transfer in case of appeals, i.e., if an appeal is not submitted to the first-instance or second-instance election commission authorised to adjudicate it, it cannot be forwarded to the election commission with jurisdiction and competence. The election body to which the appeal was submitted has a procedural obligation in relation to the appeal and must reject the appeal submitted to the wrong body without substantive examination, pursuant to section 231 (1) point c) of the Ve.

The written appeal may be submitted

- in person;

- by mail;

- electronically (e.g., by email or to the official gateway of the election office operating alongside the election commission).

According to legal practice, in line with the objection, it is possible to submit an appeal only once for the same facts, and once submitted, it cannot be modified or supplemented.

3. Legal basis for the appeal [section 223 (3) of the Ve.]

An appeal may be lodged against the decision of the first-instance election commission on two grounds:

a) the first-instance decision violates a provision of the law governing elections,

b) the first-instance commission did not properly consider the factors taken into account in making the decision.

If the appeal is lodged on the grounds specified in point 1, the legal practice that applies in this case is that the violation of the law cannot be referred to in general terms but must be specified by indicating the source of the law, the section number, and the paragraph. In addition to specifying the violation, the appeal must also include a statement of reasons explaining why the contested decision violates the law and the specific violation was in relation to the legal provision specified therein.

If the legal basis for the appeal is the reason specified in point b), it may be based, among others, on an incomplete or insufficiently thorough investigation of the facts, inadequate assessment of the available data and evidence, or the fact that the considerations (e.g., aggravating and mitigating circumstances) cannot be determined from the decision made within the discretionary power of the election commission.

4. Deadline for filing an appeal [sections 10 and 224 (2) of the Ve.]:

An appeal shall be deemed to have been lodged within the time limit if it is received by the election commission that issued the first-instance decision or is competent to adjudicate the case by 4 p.m. on the third calendar day following the date of the contested decision. It is important to note that the deadline for filing an appeal is calculated from the date of the first-instance decision and not from the date of its delivery by electronic or postal means. The deadline is also a term of preclusion this case, and failure to meet it will result in the appeal being rejected without substantive examination.

The appeal against the contested decision must be submitted to the election commission that made the decision because, after receiving the appeal, the election office operating alongside the commission forwards the appeal together with the relevant documents (e.g., objection, first-instance decision, minutes) to the election commission authorised to act in the second instance. This ensures that the appellate election commission has all the information and documents necessary to assess the appeal.

5. Mandatory content of the appeal [section 2204 (3) of the Ve.]

5.1. Legal basis of the appeal

See description in point 3.

5.2. Details of the appellant

The appellant, who is the same person as the person who lodged the objection, whether a natural person or an organization, must provide certain details that can be used to identify him / her. It is important to note that if the same person/organization is the submitter of both the objection and the appeal, the information required by the Ve. must be provided again in the appeal, regardless of whether it has already been provided in the objection.

The mandatory information for natural persons and organizations is summarized in the table below:

In case of civil organizations, the court registration number is the number recorded in the register of civil and other organizations not classified as companies, in accordance with section 91 (1) point a) of Act CLXXXI, in case of business associations, the company registration number pursuant to section 24 (1) point a) of Act V of 2006.

In case of organizations, in order to establish eligibility to submit an appeal, the name(s) of the legal representative(s) submitting the appeal on behalf of the organization must also be recorded.

In addition to the mentioned mandatory elements, the appeal may include the submitter's email address and the name and email address of their delivery agent, but these are not mandatory. The short contact details are important because, in addition to sending the commission's decision by registered mail, the election office will also send the decision to the applicant via these channels, so that they can be informed of it quickly.

If the appeal is submitted by an authorised representative, the appeal must also include the name of the representative and be accompanied by an authorisation in the appropriate form (public deed or private deed of full probative force).

When submitting an appeal, it is important to bear in mind the position developed by case law and consistently applied by the election bodies and the Curia of Hungary, according to which deficiencies in the objection cannot be remedied in the appeal. Therefore, if, for example, due to the personal data, the indication of the violation of the law or the lack of evidence, the first-instance election commission rejected the objection, even if these deficiencies are remedied in the appeal, this cannot result in a change in the first-instance decision and a substantive assessment of the objection. In the second-instance proceedings initiated on the basis of the appeal, the election commission shall examine the contested decision and the preceding proceedings and their legality in accordance with section 231 (4) of the Ve. Therefore, the absence of mandatory elements cannot render unlawfully a decision of rejection made without substantive examination if the applicant for legal remedy, recognizing the deficiencies in the application based on the first-instance decision, supplements themin the second-instance proceedings. (No.Kvk.II.37.271/2014/2., Kvk.II.37.325/2014/3., Kvk.II.37.326/2014/3. orders of the Curia of Hungary, 39/2015. NEC decision, 1440/2014. NEC decision)

It is also important to note that election bodies are bound by procedural constraints, meaning that second-instance proceedings may only be conducted in matters in which an objection has been lodged and in respect of which the election commission had a duty to make a decision. Thus, the appeal may only concern a violation of the law that was also raised in the objection, i.e. the appeal cannot be extended to a violation of the law that was not included in the objection. The Ve. does not allow the appellant to indicate a new violation of the law that was not included in the previous proceedings. (No.Kvk.I.37.394/2014/2., Kvk.I.37.494/2014/2., Kvk.II.37.606/2019/4. orders of the Curia of Hungary)

6. New facts and evidence [section 225 of the Ve.]

The content of section 225 of the Ve. and the scope of evidence interpreted by the Curia of Hungary in its decision of principle no.BH 2014/12/377., to which the Curia referred in several decisions made in 2018

(Kvk.III.37.309/2018/2., Kvk.III.37.310/2018/2., Kvk.III.37.333/2018/2., Kvk.III.37.334/2018/2., Kvk.IV.37.335/2018/2., Kvk.III.37.421/2018/8. orders of the Curia of Hungary).

The Curia states that the new facts and evidence that may be raised during legal proceedings, as set out in section 225 of the Ve., must be causally related to the subject of the objection, the contested activity, and the contested legal provision.

In connection with the referred provisions of the Ve., it is also important to note the position of the Curia, confirmed in its Decision no.Kvk. III.37.443/2018/2.and interpreted in its Decision no.Kvk.I.37.494/2014/2., according to which new evidence may only be referred to if evidence has already been submitted in the proceedings before the election commissions. If the election commission of first instance rejected the objection without substantive examination due to the lack of evidence as a mandatory element, this deficiency cannot be remedied in further proceedings, i.e., in the second or third instance.

In summary, the appeal can be assessed on the merits if

- it was submitted within the deadline,

-it was submitted by the person entitled to do so,

- it contains a justification for being concerned,

- it was submitted to the election commission that issued the contested decision or is competent to decide on it,

-it contains the mandatory elements specified in the Ve. (see point 5)