Press coverage on election day

Under Act XXXVI of 2013 on Electoral Procedure, representatives of the press have special rights during elections (including by-elections, repeated votings, and referenda).

On election day, journalists may be present and carry out their work in the polling station without prior permission from the start of voting (6:00 a.m.) until the end of voting (7:00 p.m., with the proviso that voters queuing at 7:00 p.m. may still vote) and during the tabulation. However, they may not interfere with the work of the polling station commission, violate the secrecy of the vote, or have insight in the register of voters or take photographs or make film recordings of it. The polling station commission may only provide information on the number of voters. The press may not interview voters in the polling station. However, the press may take photographs, make video and audio recordings (video recordings, cutaway shots) of the voting without the consent of the voters, provided that the recordings are not portrait-like, i.e., they do not focus on individual voters, but document the voting as a public event of public interest. At the same time, they must respect the rule that no election campaign activities may be conducted in public areas within 150 meters of the entrance to the building housing the polling station.

Representatives of the press (pursuant to section 20/B of Decree 17/2013 (VII. 17.) KIM – of the Minister of Public Administration and Justice) must present the following identification documents to the chair of the polling station commission:

• an identity card (ID card, passport or driving license) and

• • a power of attorney issued to them by the media content provider or

• • a press card issued by a professional journalists' organization.

The foreign representation’s election office may accept other documents as well, depending on local circumstances.

On election day, the National Election Office operates an election centre (address: 1054 Budapest, Alkotmány St. 3), which requires accreditation for entry. Members of the press will receive their accreditation cards on election day upon entering the election centre.

Based on accreditation, the following locations may be visited at the election centre:

• processing of postal votes (National Election Office)

• monitoring of results, possible press conferences (Ministry of Construction and Transport, auditorium, 1054 Budapest, Alkotmány St.. 5., entry via the NVI building)

• possible meetings of the National Election Commission (National Election Office, 2nd floor)

For further information on accreditation, please contact:sajto@nvi.hu.

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