The electoral system of Hungary is the set of voting methods and rules used in Hungary, including mainly the system for electing members of the National Assembly (parliamentary elections) and local government elections. The Hungarian electoral system also includes the systems used for the European Parliament elections held in Hungary and the elections of minority local government elections, as well as the rules of referendums and similar initiatives. The president of the republic is not directly elected.
The electoral system of parliamentary elections (a variation on the former Italian scorporo system) and the mixed single vote system used to elect some local governments may be called uniquely Hungarian electoral systems, while other systems used in Hungary are also widely used worldwide. +National electionsLocal government and minority electionsElectionNational Assembly elections (general elections)European Parliament electionsLocal government electionsMinority local government electionsElected officialsMPs (199)MEPs elected in Hungary (21)Mayors (+ Lord Mayor of Budapest)Members of local councilsMembers of county assemblies and members of the Assembly of BudapestMembers of minority local governments (5)Electoral system(s)Two-vote positive vote transfer system (mixed-member majoritarian) 106 representatives are elected by relative majority vote in single-mandate constituencies, 93 representatives are elected from a national list (Closed lists, D'Hondt method)Party-list proportional representation(Zárt, lista, D'Hondt)First-past-the-post votingAt least population of 10.000: Mixed single vote Below population of 10.000: Plurality block votingCounty assemblies and Budapest Assembly: Party-list proportional representation (Closed lists, D'Hondt method)Plurality block votingFrequencyEvery 4 years (+ by-elections)Every 5 yearsEvery 5 years (+ by-elections)SuffrageHungarian citizens (those without a Hungarian address only have a list vote)Hungarian citizens and other European Union citizens with a residential address in Hungary, as well as Hungarian citizens without a Hungarian addressHungarian citizens with a Hungarian address and other European Union citizens, as well as persons recognized as refugees, immigrants or settledregistered minority voters
Principles According to the Basic Law of Hungary, every citizen is entitled to universal and equal suffrage, and voting is always direct and secret.
The right to vote in Hungary is voluntary and free, voting is not mandatory. Parliamentary and local government elections can be general elections or by-elections (which may be held for non-list elections).
General parliamentary elections must be held every four years and local government elections every five years. The date of the parliamentary election is set by the President of the Republic no later than 72 days before the election.
National Assembly elections
General elections In the general elections held every 4 years, all members of parliament are reelected. In the election, voters may vote for an individual representative candidate in one of the 106 single-member constituencies, as well as for one party list or minority list in the national constituency.
In the election, citizens with a residential address in Hungary have two votes (individual and list), while Hungarian citizens across the border can only vote for a national list (they do not belong to any individual electoral district). With the vote of the national list, a citizen can vote either for a nationality list or a party list, but not for both - they must declare this before the election (if they wish to vote for a nationality list). The list vote is used in a closed list system, voters do not have the opportunity to influence the order of the candidates on the lists.
Constituencies In the 106 individual constituencies, representatives are elected by plurality ("relative majority") voting, i.e. each voter can vote for one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins (first-past-the-post). Unlike the previous system, the current system has a single round of voting, so the winning candidate does not have to get more than half of the votes (absolute majority).
List votes The 93 national list mandates are allocated as follows
The number of votes representing the electoral threshold is established, which is 5% in the case of party lists (10% in the case of a joint list of two parties, and 15% in the case of three or more parties). Minority lists receive a preferential quota: it is the number of votes for list mandates divided by the number of list mandates (93) times four (1/93×4, approx. 0.27%). Mandates cannot be obtained from party lists and national lists below the threshold. Minority list mandates, which can be obtained with a preferential quota, are distributed first. The votes cast for the losing candidates in the individual branch and the surplus votes cast for the winning candidate (result of the winning candidate - (result of the losing candidate + 1 vote)) shall be considered fractional votes and will be added (in the case of lists achieving a result above the threshold) to the list votes. The remaining list mandates (after the distribution of preferential minority mandates) are distributed among the lists using the D'Hondt method, and the candidates from the lists receive mandates according to their order (if they did not win in an individual branch).
Minority speakers Those minorities that submitted a list that did not achieve the number of votes required for the preferential mandate have the opportunity to send a minority nationality advocate to the National Assembly. The Nationality Advocate will be the 1st person on their list.
Filling vacant seats, by-elections By-elections must be called in individual constituencies if
there are no candidates in the election, the most votes are obtained by two or more candidates with an equal number of votes, the mandate of the elected individual constituency representative is terminated (e.g. death).
In the case of a mandate obtained on a national list, the party or ethnic self-government may nominate someone from the list, otherwise the next representative fills the mandate. If there are no more representatives on the list, the mandate remains vacant. This is also how the position of national advocate will be filled.
Criticisms
According to critics, the new electoral system essentially makes it impossible for parties with separate lists to nominate common individual candidates, because in this case the fractional votes are lost, and this is an indefensible provision specifically aimed at hindering the unity of the opposition.
Kovács and Stumpf pointed out in their study that the current system shows a greater tendency towards disproportionality. In search of the source of the disproportionality, three internal and one external factor were identified in the model. The internal factors are: 1. the change in the proportions of individual and list mandates, 2. the introduction of "premiumization" for the winner, 3. the termination of the independent compensation list; external factor: the evolution of the power relations of the parties at national and district level. Although Századvég and Nézőpont tried in vain to refute the gerrymandering effect, the data from the 2014 elections showed a significant correlation between the popularity of Fidesz and the number of constituency voters. Thus, the votes of Fidesz were 3-4% stronger due to the inequality of the constituencies alone, and in addition, in terms of distribution, there was an apparently strong disproportion in favor of Fidesz (it represented 96/106 individual mandates) in the party structure at that time.http://mek.oszk.hu/16000/16042/16042.pdf Körösényi András (szerk.) - A magyar politikai rendszer - negyedszázad után (2015), Budapest: Osiris,
Another criticism arises that the fractional votes to be included in the national party list are formed from the votes cast for the representative who won the individual mandate. Legislators respond to this by ensuring that there are no wasted votes. However, since these votes were already partially valid in the individual category, and moreover with greater weight, this means further overcompensation of the winners, making the already disproportional system even more disproportional.
Legal framework
As a significant change to the laws defining election rules, the Basic Law effective from January 1, 2012 prohibited the holding of referendums on the content of election laws. The proponents did not justify the need to introduce the ban.
Primary elections
In 2021, six Hungarian opposition parties (DK, Jobbik, LMP, MSZP, Momentum, Párbeszéd) held national primaries on the occasion of their joint participation in the 2022 parliamentary elections. Within this framework, the selection of the common individual representative candidates and the common prime minister candidate in the 106 individual constituencies was entrusted to the voters. Citizens who turned 18 by the time of the 2022 parliamentary election could also participate in the vote. The individual representative candidates were elected in one round, and the prime minister candidate was elected in two rounds by plurality voting. A maximum of 3 candidates who achieved a result of at least 15% could advance to the second round. If no candidate obtained more than half of the votes in the first round, the 50% result was no longer necessary in the second round.
The first round of the primary election was held September 18–28, 2021, the second 10–16 October. Gergely Karácsony, who finished second in the first round, withdrew in favor of Péter Márki-Zay, so in the end only 2 candidates participated in the second round. The selection of the candidates on the joint list (with the exception of the Prime Ministerial candidate) was carried out jointly by the parties after the primaries.
Local government and minority elections
Local governments
Mayors Mayors and the mayor of Budapest can be elected everywhere from individual mayoral candidates by voting for one of the candidates. The Mayor is the candidate with the most votes (single round, plurality voting).
Councils In settlements with more than 10,000 inhabitants mandates can be obtained in individual constituencies and from compensation lists in the mixed election system.
In the individual constituencies, one representative is elected in a plurality voting system, similar to the rules of the mayoral election, without a participation limit, that is, regardless of the number of participants and the distribution of votes among the candidates, the candidate who received the most votes wins the mandate. In the individual constituency, the election is indecisive only if several candidates obtain an equal number of votes (including the case where no candidate receives a vote), in which case no candidate is elected and a by-election must be held. Holding the election is not an obstacle if only one candidate is running in the constituency.