On election day, journalists may be present and carry out their duties from the beginning of voting (6:00 a.m.) until the end of voting (7:00 p.m., with the exception that voters in line at 7:00 p.m. may still vote), and during the counting of votes, at the polling station without prior permission. However, they may not interfere with the work of the polling station commission, may not violate the secrecy of the ballot, may not inspect the electoral roll, and may not take photographs or film recordings of it. Polling station commissions can only give information about the number of voters. In the polling stations media representatives are not permitted to make interviews with the voters. The press may, however, take photographs, video and audio recordings (video recordings, editing) of the vote without the consent of the voters and even against their objection, provided that the recordings are not portraits, i.e. they are not made of a particular voter, but document the vote as a public event of public interest. Furthermore, no election campaigning may take place in public space within 150 metres of the entrance to the building housing the polling station.
Pursuant to Section 20/B of KIM Decree 17/2013 (17 July) persons acting on behalf of the media shall certify their competence to the president of the polling station commission with
- their personal identification card (passport) and
- with an authorization from the media or
- with a press card issued by a professional journalistic organization.
- with an authorization from the media or
(With regard to local circumstances the foreign representation election offices at foreign representations may accept other documents from the persons acting on behalf of the media.)
On election day the National Election Office operates an election centre. (Address: 3 Alkotmány utca, Budapest 1054). Accreditation is needed to enter. The media representatives receive their accreditation badges on election day upon entering the election centre.
Based on accreditation, the following sites can be visited in the election centre:
- processing of mail ballots
- monitoring the result, possible press conferences (Ministry of Finance, assembly hall)
- sessions, if any, of the National Election Commission (National Election Office, 2. floor)
Regarding the accreditation for more information please contact:
e-mail: akkred[at]nvi.hu