State Secretary János Lázár talked about the electoral procedure proposal of Fidesz proposing among others voluntary voter pre-registration for next year's general election. The registration would start on September 1, 2013 and last until two weeks before the election, the head of the Prime Minister's Office said on Monday.

The State Secretary said all Hungarian citizen will be notified well in advance to register and indicate how (personally or by mail) and where (within or outside Hungary) they are going to vote. In November or December they would be contacted again and, if not yet registered, reminded that pre-registration is necessary to cast their vote, the State Secretary said. Also no time restrictions will be set on political campaigning in 2014, State Secretary Lázár added.

Parliament is scheduled to start discussing the proposal next Monday and the new legislation is expected to clear Parliament in December, taking effect on January 1, 2013. State Secretary Lázár also said that voter registration had to be introduced to enable Hungarians living or working abroad (est. 500-800 000 people) to participate in the elections.
Plans are afoot to ease voting for disabled voters (est. 600 000 people) as well, through positive discrimination, he added.

Another change would be that the majority of campaign funding will come from the state, State Secretary Lázár highlighted. This amount might reach three million forints and after the election, parties would be expected to give a detailed account of how it was spent, while related regulations would be included in the New Penal Code. The proposal also suggests that additional funding could only be raised from private individuals and must not be more than one third of total costs. Restrictions are also planned on campaign methods, for instance a ban on commercials, but free advertising would be offered in the public media. In line with international examples, elimination of endorsement slips is also planned. MPs would be automatically allowed to run, while others will need a hundred signatures to become eligible.

(Prime Minister’s Office)