State sovereignty and parliamentary elections

State sovereignty = Power over the people living in the territory of the state National sovereignty contra community of citizens Original Article 10. (1) of the Constitution: all rights based on the sovereignty of the people belongs to the Parliament Present Article 19. (2) Verticaly (EU, Local Governments) and horizontaly (the President of the Republic, Constitutional Court) divided

Parliamentary democracy Constitution Article 2. (2) „In the Republic of Hungary the sovereignty is vested in the people, who exercise their sovereign rights directly and through elected representatives.” People who have the right to elect the representatives and have the right to participate in national referendums

Who have the right to vote during the Parliamentary elections Constitution 70. (1) before 1 May 2004 All adult Hungarian citizens living in the territory of the Republic of Hungary have the right to be elected and – if they are present in the country on the day of the election – the right to vote after 1 May 2004 „All adult Hungarian citizens residing in the territory of the Republic of Hungary have the right to be elected and the right to vote (…)”

Who have the right to participate in national referendum people who can vote during the Parliamentary elections In the national public affairs this community exercises the public authority directly or through elected representatives political nation

Who have the right to vote during the election of the local goverments before 1 May 2004 If they are present in the country on the day of the election (1) all adult Hungarian citizens living in the territory of the Republic of Hungary (2) people living in the territory of the Republic of Hungary as immigrants after 1 May 2004 If people residing in the territory of the Republic of Hungary are present in the country on the day of the election (1) all adult Hungarian citizens (2) the citizens of other Member States of the European Union (3) immigrants, settled, refugees

Who have the right to be elected during the election of the local goverments before 1 May 2004 all adult Hungarian citizens living in the territory of the Republic of Hungary after 1 May 2004 everyone residing in the territory of the Republic of Hungary (1) all adult Hungarian citizens (2) the citizens of other Member States of the European Union Only Hungarian citizens have the right to be elected as mayors, chairmans of county assemblies

Who have the right to vote during the election of the Members of the European Parliament Constitution 70. (4) after 1 May 2004 All adult Hungarian citizens residing in the territory of the Republic of Hungary and adult citizens of other Member States of the European Union, residing in the territorry of the Republic of Hungary have the right to be elected and the right to vote in European Parliamentary election.

The right to vote shall not be granted to persons who are under guardianship limiting or excluding their legal capacity who are subject to a final legal judgment forbidding them to participate in public affairs, who are incarcerated on the basis of a final legal judgement (but Hirst v. UK, European Court of Human Rights) who are under compulsory institutional care on the basis of a final legal judgment rendered in criminal proceedings EU citizens have no right to be elected, if their voting right is limited in their country of origin

The election of minority self- governments before 1 May 2004 If they are present in the country on the day of the election, all adult Hungarian citizens living in the territory of the Republic of Hungary after 1 May 2004 Is not any special regulation in the substantive law Constitution Article 68. (4) „National and ethnic minorities shall have the right to form local and national bodies for self-government.” People who don’t belong to any minorities have not suffrage

The Hungarian election system

Election systems Main types: majority, proportional, mixed Majority: a mandate can be obtained with the majority of the ballots given in a district -relative majority (GB): the most ballots -absolute majority (France): the majority of the ballots Proportional: a mandate can be ontained in proportion to ballots given in a district Mixed: the majority and the proportional elements mix

Act XXXIV of 1989 on the Election of the Members of the Parliament The number of Members of Parliament: 386 Single mandate constitutencies (176 representatives) Regional party lists (152 representatives) National party lists (58 compensatory mandates)

Tractability v. mapping of the will of the voters The single destricts represent the majority elements, this serves the tractability The case of Germany The regional and the national lists serve theoretically the proportional mapping of the will of the voters The regional list is the proportional element The national list serves the compensation of the disproportionality

Single districts Two-round majority system The first round: absolute majority The second round: relative majority With the concentration of the parties and the withdrawals the winnings in the first round happen more and more often The scope of districts is by far disproportionate

Single districts DECISION 22/2005. (VI. 17.) AB: until 30 June 2007 have to be modified District Number of inhabitants Veszprém Tolna Budapest Budapest Pest Pest Hajdú-Bihar Budapest

Regional list The annexes of the Act on Electoral Procedure determine, how many mandate can be obtained in a county This hasn’t been changed since 1990 – it hasn’t followed the mobility of the population County Changes Budapest ,83% Fejér ,68% Győr-Moson- Sopron ,98% Pest ,29%

Regional lists Necessary ballots to obtain a mandate: The number of valid votes/ The number of obtainable mandates + 1 As the obtainable mandates are too little, it’s difficult to obtain an electoral mandate on the regional lists (the implicit level is high) If there is/are some obtainable mandate(s), mandate can be obtained with the two-thirds of the divisor

Is the regional list proportional? The number of the mandates Implicit level (with the rule of two-thirds) Nógrád413,33 % Heves511,11 % Baranya69,52 % Bács-Kiskun87,41 % Szabolcs-Szatmár96,67 % Borsod-Abaúj115,56 % Pest144,44 % Budapest282,30 %

The division of the mandates on the regional list Example: county Nógrád The number of the obtainable mandates: 4 Valid votes party # mand32,5 % party # mand13,5 % party # mand10 % Divisor: / (4+1) = With the rule of two-thirds = [13,33%]

National list The votes given for the winning party in the single district are not result in the national list In the first valid ground of the single district X party A party B party C party The national list of party A The national list of party B The national list of party C

National list Votes given for the party on the regional list – obtained mandates * divisor Example: county Veszprém 2002 On the national list of the Fidesz *30279=11065 On the national list of the MSZP *30279=17859 On the national list of the SZDSZ11117 divisor: / (6+1) = 30279

National list Fragmentary votes obtained in the single district Fragmentary votes obtained on the regional list All the fragmentary votes of the party With these can mandate be obtained on the national list

National list Distribution of six mandates with the method of d’Hont X partyY partyZ party All the fragmentary votes mandate12000 (12000/1) mandates 6000 (12000/2) mandates 4000 (12000/3) mandates 3000 (12000/4) mandates 2400 (12000/5)

Thank you for your attention!