POLITICAL PARTICIPATORY RIGHTS PROGRAM
POLITICAL PARTICIPATORY RIGHTS PROGRAM ABOUT THE PROGRAM IN A NUTSHELL
TRANSPARENCY: PUBLICITY OF VOTE BY MAIL VOTERS’ ELECTORAL ROLLS AND OF THE PROCESSING OF THEIR VOTES
Political participatory rights, such as the right to vote and the right to stand for elections, are the cornerstones of democracy. The objective of the program is to coordinate and further develop the activities of HCLU in order to advocate for free and equal suffrage, public and transparent election procedures, as well as for the freedom of political speech and the fairness of opportunities to exercise it. The new Electoral Procedure Act, the campaign regulation created in the spirit of the constitution’s most recent amendment, and also the exclusion of certain groups from political participation are raising serious fundamental rights issues in each of the areas mentioned above.
In May 2013, jointly with other organizations (Eötvös Károly Policy Institute, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Political Capital Institute, Transparency International) we objected to the new Electoral Procedure Act. The regulation did not give any opportunity for international observers to inspect the electoral rolls of vote by mail voters. Moreover, it did not ensure the publicity of the nam es and total headcount of vote by mail voters. Also, the processing of mail votes would not have been traceable neither for international observers, nor for the media. Reacting to our call, the Parliament amended the Electoral Procedure Act: as a result, the obstacles to transparency and freedom of information just mentioned were removed. However, the legislator, contrary to our proposal, still has not ensured the full publicity of the vote by mail voters’ electoral roll by making it available to any Hungarian citizen who wishes to inspect them. This omission still creates risks for the fairness of the electoral procedures.
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