Lili Karácsony
Hungary’s first national election, the forthcoming parliamentary since the outburst of the COVID19 pandemic is being held on April 3, 2022 (jointly with a nation-wide referendum from four questions). The National Election Office have organized an interim parliamentary and several interim municipal elections in the Autumn of 2020, and while a nationwide oppositional primary elections took place in the Autumn of 2021, so Hungary has some experience regarding restrictions to deal with the challenges and difficulties of the pandemic. This briefing is focusing on the regulations elaborated to the upcoming national elections regarding both in person and mobile ballot box voting requirements.
According to the public health protocol issued by the National Electoral Office, voters at the polling stations are expected to keep an at least 1.5 meter distance from each other while waiting in line and while casting a vote. They are advised to use the placed hand sanitizers when arriving to and leaving the polling stations. Members of the Vote Counting Committee will also draw attention to wear face masks despite the fact that according to the current regulations, wearing face masks is not obligatory in the country except in medical institutions.
Members of the Vote Counting Committee will have special obligations at the polling stations. According to the National Election Office’s highly informative “electoral booklet” members of the committee are bound to wear face masks and keep an at least 1.5 meter distance from the citizens. Due to the pandemic, it is also advised to select more committee members than usual to have the adequate number of organizers available in case of unforeseen illnesses or isolations. The polling stations have to be disinfected regularly as well as its assets (pens, tables etc.) and proper ventilation is also a necessity. The electoral staff is also advised to eat in a separate room with option to wash hands and disinfect. Committee members are also expected to act responsibly before and during the election bearing in mind the prevention of infection. However, it is important to note, that the electoral booklets do not require organizers to be vaccinated, or to be tested negatively as regard COVID-19 before the day of the election.
Regarding the special rules for certain voting mechanisms, for those who opt for voting by mobile ballot box, special requirements are set. Committee members are obliged to wear face masks and disposable rubber gloves. They will also receive alcoholic hand sanitizers. Committee members should enter to the apartments of the voters only as last resort in indispensable cases, when the voters cannot reach the door themselves. Masks and gloves should be offered also to the voters, however it is not compulsory for the citizens to wear these facilities. After the casting of the vote the committee member has to take off gloves and masks immediately and dispose of them. At the next address, they are bound to use new ones.
As I mentioned earlier, these regulations were announced in February, 2022, and at the end of the electoral booklet, the National Election Office stated that by monitoring the changes of the epidemiological situation they might lay down further rulings if they are required. Nevertheless one week away from the elections, infection rates are a third of the ones experienced in February, therefore it can be concluded that Hungary is waiting for the elections with the above listed regulations, which should be sufficient at the current epidemiological situation. One can conclude, that the approaching national elections are expected to take place within relatively beneficiary public health circumstances especially in comparison with the previous vawes of the pandemic.
March 2022
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The views expressed above belong to the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Social Sciences.