Elections in Hungary are held at two levels: the Central level, in which there are general elections to elect the members of the unicameral National Assembly that occur every 4 years, as well as European Parliament elections held every 5 years; and the so-called self-governmental level, which consists of elections of local authorities (municipal councils, mayors, county assemblies, capital city assembly) and minority self-governmental authorities (on different levels).
There are no other direct elections (the president, for example, is elected indirectly), but there are referendums on both the local and national levels.
National Assembly elections
Following a reform in 2012, general elections reverted to a one-round, two-ballot system. The total number of seats was reduced and regional lists were eliminated. The proportion of single-member seats increased from 45.56% of the total to 53.3%. The first ballot chose MPs for 106 single-member districts using first-past-the-post. The remaining 93 party-list national seats were allocated based on the sum of list votes from the second ballot and 'wasted' votes from the first ballot. 'Wasted' votes in this context are votes that are cast for unsuccessful candidates or surplus votes for winning candidates. This formula for allocating national seats is a cross between a parallel mixed system and a compensatory mixed system.
The 2014 election was the first to be held according to the new system, which included the following significant changes:
One round instead of two rounds. No turnout requirements; formerly, a turnout of 50% was needed for the first round and 25% for the second round. The National Assembly included 199 seats, reduced from 386 (i.e. 51.6% of the previous total). 106 constituency seats, reduced from 176; their share increased from 45.6% to 53.3% of total seats. 93 party-list seats, including minority-list seats, reduced from the 210 MMC and levelling seats; their share decreased from 54.4% to 46.7% of all seats. A 5% threshold remains for party lists, 10% for joint lists of two parties, 15% for joint lists of three or more parties. The quota for ethnic-minority lists to win seats is only one-quarter of the general quota.
Minority lists that do not reach the 5% of all minority-list votes and do not get at least one seat, will be able to send a minority spokesman to the National Assembly, who has the right to speak but not to vote. Practically, only the German and Romani minorities are numerous enough to possibly elect MPs, while the other 13 minorities have spokesmen.
Constituency borders were changed, partly because of the reduced number of constituencies (from 176 to 106), partly because of the demographic changes in the proportion of the population of constituencies in the last 20 years. In the old system, the population of the smallest constituency was 33077, while the population of the largest one was 98167, which meant that the constituency vote of a person living in larger constituencies was worth one-third of that of a person living in smaller constituencies. In the new system the difference between the population of the largest and smallest constituencies is lower than 30% (79208 and 109955) and the standard deviation of the population of the constituencies has also reduced from 20% to 8%. The average population of constituencies used to be 57089 and will be 94789 in 2014. Constituency borders do not necessarily coincide with city or district borders; however, they have to coincide with county borders and with the border of Budapest (so the 19 counties and Budapest are further divided into constituencies). Budapest used to consist of 32 constituencies and will consist of 18 in 2014. Registration - although it had been planned previously - will not be generally required for voting after being found unconstitutional, only those Hungarian citizens will have to register who do not reside in Hungary (do not have Hungarian address card), this registration will be valid for 10 years or until the change of address and will be automatically extended in case of voting (so practically Hungarian citizens outside Hungary will have to re-register only in case of not voting twice or in case of changing home address)
Nomination of candidates All candidates must be at least 18 years old and Hungarian citizens. Candidates standing for constituency seats must each have received at least 1000 proposal certificates. Parties with candidates standing for election in at least 27 (out of 106) constituencies in at least 9 (out of 19) counties and Budapest may present (national) party lists. Each of the legally recognized national minority councils – currently: Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Rusyn, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian – may present minority lists (one list per council).
Voting On Hungarian elections citizens can vote for a party-list (or a minority-list), and in case of residing in Hungary (which is checked by showing the address card) citizens can also vote for a constituency candidate who will be responsible for the local community in the National Assembly. At least 18 year old Hungarian citizens with Hungarian residence one vote for a party-list one vote for a constituency candidate At least 18 year old Hungarian citizens without Hungarian residence one vote for a party-list At least 18 year old Hungarian citizens with Hungarian residence registered as minority voter one vote for a constituency candidate one vote either for a party-list or for a minority-list
Implementation of voting at local polling stations Hungarian citizens with Hungarian residence (address card) staying in Hungary showing the ID card -> being able to vote for a party-list (or a minority-list) showing the address card -> being able to vote for a constituency candidate at embassies, consulates Hungarian citizens with Hungarian residence (address card) staying abroad showing the ID card -> being able to vote for a party-list (or a minority-list) showing the address card -> being able to vote for a constituency candidate by mail Hungarian citizens without Hungarian address card registering for the elections by mail or electronically (valid for 10 years or until change of residential address, validity automatically extends by 10 years in case of voting), registered citizens receive the voting sheet (only the party-list) by mail, which they fulfill and send back to the election office.
Results In case of the 106 constituency seats, the candidate that receives the most votes (not necessarily more than 50%) in the given constituency, obtains the constituency seat and will be responsible for that local region in the National Assembly. In the case of the 93 party-list seats, parties receive seats in proportion to the votes received out of all the party-list and minority-list votes. These numbers of seats obtained by the parties are calculated according to the D'Hondt method after checking out whether the party has reached the 5% threshold out of all the party-list votes and whether the minority has reached the 5% threshold out of all minority votes. If a minority-lists cannot obtain at least one seat then the first candidate on the minority-list will be minority spokesman, who has right to speak in the National Assembly but is not allowed to vote.
It is possible that the same person is a constituency candidate and a party-list candidate in the same time. If this person has obtained the seat in their constituency and would also obtain a seat because of the party-list that they are listed on then the next candidate in the party-list replaces the candidate that already has obtained a constituency seat. So, for example, someone being the 50th on a party-list can obtain a seat in the National Assembly even if their party has only won 30 party-list seats, if at least 20 candidates listed earlier than them win in their local constituency. (this rule has simplified as there is no county level between the constituency level and the national level)
Generally, big parties place their most important (national level) politicians only on the party-lists because these people want to deal only with national-level issues (like becoming minister). They represent citizens who voted for their parties and not the citizens of their local community, which is the responsibility of those MPs that obtain constituency seats. On the other hand, leaders of small parties usually qualify both on their party-lists and in their local constituencies because of maximizing votes; the leader of a small party might be much more famous or much more popular than an ordinary local politician of a big party.
By-elections
A by-election is an election held to fill a constituency seat that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections. In case of the vacancy of a party-list seat, the next person on the list that is still interested gets to the National Assembly. This rule has not changed. Note, that by-elections from 2012 are held according to the new system, so only one round is held and no minimum turnout is needed, while the constituencies are the same until 2014.
Latest general election
Historical composition of the National Assembly since 1990
Total seat count: 386 1990–1994 33 94 22 21164 44 2 6 1994–1998209 70 20 22 38 26 1 1998–2002134 24148 17 48 14 1 2002–2006178 20164 24 2006–2010190 20141 23 11 1 2010–2014 59 16227 36 47 1Total seat count: 199 2014–2018 29 1 4 3 5 1117 16 23 2018–2022 15 5 9 1 8117 16 26 1 1 2022–2026 10 6 15 5 10117 18 10 6 1 1 2026–2030141 44 8 6
The numbers come from the legislature's inaugural session. Later changes may occur: Vacancies from party list MPs do not change the make-up of the Assembly, as they are replaced by another member of the party list. But a vacancy in a district seat triggers a by-election, which, historically, is often won by another party. See List of Hungarian by-elections. New factions may appear in 1993, the nationalist-radicalist members of MDF quit the party and founded the MIÉP, which took part in the next three elections. It crossed the threshold only in 1998. in 2011, the DK faction led by former socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, split from the MSZP and became a party of its own. in 2013, 8 MPs from LMP left the party to set up Dialogue for Hungary
Prime ministers and their governments since 1989 Parties
Portrait Name Term of office Political party Cabinet Assembly Took office Left office Time in office — Miklós Németh 23 October 1989 23 May 1990 MSZP Németh — 53 József Antall 23 May 1990 12 December 1993 MDF Antall–KDNP 34 — Péter Boross 12 December 1993 21 December 1993 54 Péter Boross 21 December 1993 15 July 1994 Boross 55 Gyula Horn 15 July 1994 6 July 1998 MSZP Horn 35 56 Viktor Orbán 6 July 1998 27 May 2002 Fidesz Orbán I 36 57 Péter Medgyessy 27 May 2002 29 September 2004 Independent Medgyessy 37 58 Ferenc Gyurcsány 29 September 2004 9 June 2006 MSZP Gyurcsány I 9 June 2006 14 April 2009 Gyurcsány II 38 59 Gordon Bajnai 14 April 2009 29 May 2010 Independent Bajnai (56) Viktor Orbán 29 May 2010 10 May 2014 Fidesz Orbán II 39 10 May 2014 10 May 2018 Orbán III 40 10 May 2018 16 May 2022 Orbán IV 41 16 May 2022 9 May 2026 Orbán V 42 60 Péter Magyar 9 May 2026 Incumbent Tisza Magyar 43
Local elections
Elections for mayors and municipalities () occur every five years (formerly every four years in the autumn following the general elections). On the local elections, the following are elected directly by the voters:
in Budapest Lord Mayor of Budapest (now since 2019: Gergely Karácsony, between 1990 and 2010: Gábor Demszky) members of the City Council of Budapest (since 2010: 33, 1994-2010: 66, 1990-1994: 88) voters vote for party-lists Mayors of the districts of Budapest members of the District Council