Local elections: foreigners can vote too  

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By Cristina Ciobanu

 

If you miss exercising your right to vote while living in a foreign country- now it’s your chance to vote. Do you live outside of your home country and feel useless when it comes to elections or other types of public events? If yes, get ready for October 12. The local elections are approaching and now it is your time to participate in the public life of another country.

 

A lot of people living here are not Hungarians and therefore might not speak the language and do not understand much of what’s happening around them. Besides all the positive facts about Hungary, there are several things that not all of us know about, even if we live here for several months.

 

The capital city of Hungary is Budapest, and an important event is approaching: local elections. The local elections occur every four years, in autumn, therefore is the perfect timing for the new international students that arrived here, to exercise their citizen obligation and right – the right to vote. If you have a residence permit, “a lakcimkartya” or in other words, an address card, you can vote during these local elections!

 

“You are an equal participant in Hungary’s local democracy” will claim MigSzol, The Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary, which also is raising awareness about the upcoming elections. All migrants with a registered address in Budapest are allowed to vote. Refugees, with a ten-year status, can also vote.

 

Under the Fundamental Law of Hungary, every Hungarian or European Union Citizen of legal age and with a domicile in Hungary is eligible to vote in the local elections. Moreover, other non-Hungarian citizens with a domicile, recognized as refugees or migrants can vote.

 

Voters will be able to vote for party lists and therefore elect the political party they want to run in their district zone. The local elections are held once in four years and the President of the country decides the dates.

 

For more information, you can visit the National Election Office website:

http://www.nvi.hu/en/ovi/index.html

 

Or the Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary website:

http://www.migszol.com

 

 

 

 

 

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