With less than a month to go until the election on 6 April, it is time to take a closer look at how the government led by Viktor Orbán has transformed the electoral system. Based on the study of the right-leaning think-tank Századvég, The Budapest Times presents the most important changes.
Under the new electoral system, with the reduction in the number of MPs the legislature has cut the number of constituencies from 176 to 106. As a result the average number of voters represented by an MP will be 76,000. The number of Budapest constituencies, for example, has been reduced from 32 to 18.
The rules on the establishment of constituencies are laid down in the Act on election of Members of Parliament. The basic rules are that a constituency must cover a continuous area, must not cross a county border and must have a number of eligible voters approximately equivalent to that in every other constituency. Budapest and other towns and cities may be divided into several constituencies if such division is justified according to the provisions of the Act.
In order to uphold the principle of equal suffrage, the Act provides that the number of voters in a constituency must not differ from the national average by more than 15%, unless county borders, continuity of the area or other local characteristics dictate otherwise. If such a difference is 20% or more, Parliament is required to modify the boundaries of the constituency to bring the number of voters closer to the national average.
The boundaries and centres of constituencies are accurately depicted in the annex to the Act. The Act’s entry into force has put an end to the unconstitutional situation that had existed for years. The fact that the boundaries of constituencies are defined in a cardinal Act requiring a two-thirds majority in Parliament – rather than in lower level legislation or by a specialist panel – ensures that every political grouping within the legislature bears clear responsibility for ensuring constitutionality.
Representation of nationalities
The new Hungarian electoral system remedies a deficiency in the parliamentary representation of nationalities in Hungary dating back more than two decades. The new electoral regulations offer the opportunity of a preferential mandate in Parliament for the top candidate on each of the nationalities’ electoral lists. If, however, a nationality’s list does not garner sufficient votes, then the candidate at the top of that list can enter Parliament as that nationality’s spokesperson.
A spokesperson for a nationality is only entitled to participate in the legislative process in an advisory capacity. With this amendment the protection of nationalities’ rights in Hungary has strengthened in a manner that is a model at an international level – something which has been explicitly welcomed by the Venice Commission, among others.
Since the fall of communism more than two decades ago, no government has managed to resolve the question of the parliamentary representation of nationalities living in Hungary. Over the past twenty-four years there have been plans to ensure such representation but until now none of them has become law. As early as 1992, Hungary’s Constitutional Court declared that the legislature had created an unconstitutional situation with its failure to ensure nationalities’ representation. Whilst the court accepted that parliamentary representation is not a precondition for the enforcement of the rights of nationalities, it stated that it is undeniable that it would be the most effective means towards this end.
In response to this, in 1993 Parliament adopted the Act on nationalities, which empowered nationalities to set up their own local governments to protect their rights; but parliamentary representation has not been possible until now.
Article XXIX of the Fundamental Law of Hungary (adopted in 2011) recognises nationalities living in Hungary as “constituent parts of the State”, and through this their rights have risen to the level of fundamental rights. The cardinal Act on the election of Members of Parliament makes the rules related to the parliamentary representation of nationalities concrete. The Act links both active and passive electoral rights for nationalities to registration on the nationalities’ electoral roll. Registration can occur at any time up until the fifteenth day before the election in question. When registering, the voter must explicitly state whether he or she wishes to vote in the election of parliamentary candidates on party lists. A voter already on the register can also request removal of his or her name.
A nationality can enter a list in parliamentary elections, provided certain conditions are met. A voter who has registered on the electoral roll and wishes to vote in national elections may vote for a candidate in his or her constituency and for the list of a nationality, but not for a nationwide party list.
The new electoral legislation provides nationalities with the opportunity to obtain preferential mandates. Taking into account the votes cast in the previous two elections and the nature of the new electoral system, estimates suggest that a preferential mandate can be obtained with 24,000 votes. This means that there is a mathematical possibility for Roma, German and Slovak nationalities in Hungary to each have a representative in Parliament.
No more than one preferential mandate may be won from each nationality’s list, but if more than 5% of all votes are cast for a nationality list, then other candidates from that list may enter Parliament. This is the system for party lists also.
Preferential mandates for nationalities in Hungary give them the opportunity to directly influence the legislative process in areas affecting them. A new law would enable the votes of nationalities’ representatives to have a decisive influence on resulting legislation in certain matters of high importance. The Act states that if a nationality does not obtain a preferential mandate, it may send the top candidate on its list to Parliament as a spokesperson. In this way nationalities with fewer potential voters can still have a say in the legislature. Spokespersons and full parliamentary representatives for nationalities may establish a parliamentary committee, which can make recommendations and monitor issues related to nationalities.
Due to demographic disparities, certain communities can receive a modified form of representation. Compared to the situation up until now – and to that around Europe – nationalities’ opportunity to send spokespersons to Parliament is an important step forward. Proof of this is the warm welcome with which the changes were received in the Venice Commission’s report of 19 June 2012.
