Hungarian Parliament

Országgyűlés
*Hungarian Parliament*
Basic data
Seat:	Parliament building in Budapest
Legislative period :	four years
MPs:	199
Current legislative period
Last choice:	April 8, 2018
Chair:	László Kövér ( Fidesz )
	6th 5 15th 1 9 116 17th 17th 13 6th 5 15th 1 9 116 17th 17th 13
Distribution of seats:	Government (133) Fidesz 116; KDNP 17; Support (1) LdU 1; Opposition (65) Jobbik 17; MSZP 15; DK 9; LMP 6; PM 5; Non-attached 13;
	Website
	www.parlament.hu

The Hungarian Parliament ( Országgyűlés in Hungarian ) is a unicameral parliament based in Budapest . It has consisted of 199 members since 2014 and is directly elected by the people every four years. The Reichstag has been meeting in the Hungarian parliament building since 1902 .

Electoral system

The electoral system is a combination of majority and proportional representation. In 2011 the electoral system was changed significantly and the majority electoral element was strengthened.

Electoral system until 2011

The voters had two votes : one for a direct candidate in 176 single- seat constituencies and one for regional lists in multi- seat constituencies of different sizes (4–28 seats, altogether 152 seats). Seats are awarded for full droop quotas ; remaining seats go to the lists with the most remaining votes , as long as these account for more than two thirds of a quota; otherwise these seats go to the quota for national lists, which consists of a base of 58 mandates.

An absolute majority of the valid votes was necessary in the single electoral districts; Otherwise there will be a runoff , for which all candidates qualify with at least 15% of the valid votes, but at least the 3 strongest candidates. However, the candidates could forego participation in order to increase someone else's chances.

The distribution to the national lists was based on residual votes according to D'Hondt . The remaining votes are, on the one hand, the votes cast in the singles' constituencies in the first ballot to candidates who are on a national list and who have not received a mandate, and, on the other hand, the remaining votes in the distribution to the regional lists. The latter were negative if a remaining mandate was awarded for less than a full quota.

In the distribution of seats outside of the single constituencies, only lists that have received more than 5% of the valid national regional list votes took part . Joint or linked lists of 2 parties had to reach 10%, lists of several parties 15%. When calculating the quota in the multi-mandate constituencies, however, these lists are not excluded, so that there are regularly some remaining mandates .

If the turnout in the first ballot was not greater than 50%, the result was invalid up to and including the 1998 election and a second ballot will take place. In the single constituencies there was no runoff. In the second ballot, a turnout of more than 25% is required. Otherwise there was a by-election in the single-electoral districts and no remaining votes; the mandates of the regional constituencies were then transferred to the national contingent and the votes from the first ballot were counted as remaining votes.

The residual vote system leads to a limited balance . Votes to a successful direct candidate have a much higher success value than votes to inferior candidates, which are nevertheless not completely ignored. The value of the remaining votes from the regional constituencies depended in a complex way on the election result, but tended to be lower than that of the votes that were directly used. Overall, it is an electoral system that (locally) strongly favors larger parties; however, it was far removed from pure majority voting .

Electoral system from 2011

The electoral system, which had not changed much since 1990, was fundamentally reformed in 2011. The main changes were:

The size of parliament was almost halved from 386 to 199 seats.
In the constituencies, whose number was reduced from 176 to 106, a relative majority is enough to win in the first ballot. The proportion of directly elected MPs rose from 45.6% to 53.3%, which strengthened the majority electoral element.
The votes in the constituency of victorious applicants are also partly taken into account when allocating the seats to the national lists, which also reinforces the majority voting element.
There are no longer any regional party lists.
Hungarians abroad who register are given the right to vote.
Voters can register as a member of a minority and then choose a minority list that is favored when the first seat is allocated.

The controversial introduction of a provision that only citizens who register for the election can vote has been stopped by the Constitutional Court.

Voters living in Hungary have two votes, one list vote and one vote to vote for a direct candidate in the constituency. Hungarians abroad have only one list vote. Anyone who is registered as a minority voter can only vote on a minority list. The remaining voters can only choose one party list with their list vote.

Distribution of seats in the constituency

The candidate with the most votes is elected in each of the 106 constituencies. In contrast to the previous right to vote, there are no more runoff elections. Party applicants and non-party candidates who each need 500 supporting signatures from those eligible to vote in the constituency are allowed to stand in the constituency. According to the old electoral law, 750 signatures were required. Several parties can set up a joint applicant.

The number of eligible voters in the constituency may differ from the average by a maximum of 20%. In previous elections, there were constituencies with a significantly larger deviation. Nevertheless, the new constituency division was partially criticized as being partisan.

Distribution of seats according to lists

93 seats are distributed via national lists. Lists can be submitted by political parties and by national minorities. A party can only submit a list if it has put up candidates in at least a quarter of all constituencies and these constituencies are spread over at least 9 counties or Budapest (which does not belong to any county). Several parties can submit a joint list.

Parties must receive at least 5% of all list votes in order to participate in the distribution of seats. In the case of a joint list of two parties, the threshold clause is 10%; in the case of a joint list of three or more parties, 15%. Minority lists are allocated a seat in advance if they reach the so-called "preference quota". This is 1/93 of the number of all votes to be taken into account when distributing the list seats divided by four (i.e. 1/372 or approx. 0.27%). Minority lists only take part in the further distribution of seats if they achieve at least 5% of all list votes.

The 93 list seats, minus the seats that may already have been allocated to minority lists in advance, are distributed based on the following number of votes:

In the case of a party or a list of several parties, all list votes are taken into account, to which the votes of the candidates from the same party (s) not elected in the constituency are added. If a candidate from the party (s) in the constituency has been elected, his lead over the runner-up, reduced by one, is added to the list votes.
In the case of minority lists, all list votes are taken into account, minus the number of votes required to achieve the preference quota.

On the basis of these votes to be taken into account, the seats are distributed according to the D'Hondt procedure .

Composition since 1990

Allocation of seats (at the beginning of the election periods)
choice	Mandates	Fidesz	KDNP	MSZP	MDF	SZDSZ	FKgP	Jobbik	LMP	DK	Others
1990	386	22nd	21st	33	165	94	44	-	-	-	ASZ 1, Independent 6
1994	386	20th	22nd	209	38	69	26th	-	-	-	ASZ 1, VP 1
1998	386	148	-	134	17th	24	48	-	-	-	MIÉP 14, Independent 1
2002	386	164	-	178	24	20th	-	-	-	-
2006	386	141	23	190	11	20th	-	-	-	-	Somogyért 1
2010	386	227	36	59	-	-	-	47	16	-	Independent 1
2014	199	117	16	29	-	-	-	23	5	4th	Együtt 3, MLP 1, PM 1
2018	199	117	16	15th	-	-	-	26th	9	9	PM 5, German minority 1, MLP 1

List of Presidents of Parliament since 1920

Beginning of the term of office	Term expires	Surname	Life dates
February 18, 1920	July 30, 1921	István Rakovszky	1858-1931	KNEP
August 12, 1921	August 16, 1922	Gaszton Gaál	1868-1932	OKGFP
August 12, 1921	August 16, 1922	Gaszton Gaál	1868-1932	EP
August 18, 1922	October 18, 1926	Béla Scitovszky	1878-1959	EP
October 19, 1926	January 28, 1927	Tibor Zsitvay	1884-1969	EP
December 21, 1944	December 21, 1944	István Vásáry ( executive )	1887-1955	FKGP
December 21, 1944	November 29, 1945	Béla Zsedényi	1894-1955	independent
November 29, 1945	February 5, 1945	Ferenc Nagy	1903-1979	FKGP
February 7, 1946	July 3, 1947	Béla Varga	1903-1995	FKGP
4th July 1947	July 31, 1947	Árpád Szargó	1878-1948	FKGP
September 16, 1947	June 8, 1949	Imre Nagy	1896-1958	MKP
September 16, 1947	June 8, 1949	Imre Nagy	1896-1958	MDP
June 8, 1949	August 23, 1949	Károly Olt	1904-1985	MDP
August 23, 1949	May 18, 1951	Lajos Drahos	1895-1983	MDP
May 18, 1951	August 14, 1952	Imre Dögei	1912-1964	MDP
August 14, 1952	5th November 1962	Sándor Rónai	1892-1965	MDP
August 14, 1952	5th November 1962	Sándor Rónai	1892-1965	MSZMP
5th November 1962	April 14, 1967	Erzsébet Metzker	1915-1980	MSZMP
April 14, 1967	May 12, 1971	Gyula Kállai	1910-1996	MSZMP
May 12, 1971	19th December 1984	Antal Apró	1913-1994	MSZMP
19th December 1984	June 29, 1988	István Sarlós	1921-2006	MSZMP
June 29, 1988	March 8, 1989	István Stadinger	* 1927	MSZMP
March 8, 1989	May 2, 1990	Mátyás Szűrös	* 1933	MSZMP
March 8, 1989	May 2, 1990	Mátyás Szűrös	* 1933	MSZP
October 23, 1989	May 2, 1990	István Fodor ( executive )	* 1945	independent
May 2, 1990	3rd August 1990	Árpád Göncz	1922-2015	SZDSZ
3rd August 1990	June 28, 1994	György Szabad	* 1924	MDF
June 28, 1994	June 18, 1998	Zoltán Gál	* 1940	MSZP
June 18, 1998	May 15, 2002	János Áder	* 1959	Fidesz
May 15, 2002	September 14, 2009	Katalin Szili	* 1956	MSZP
September 14, 2009	May 14, 2010	Béla Katona	* 1944	MSZP
May 14, 2010	August 6, 2010	Pál Schmitt	* 1942	Fidesz
August 6, 2010	officiating	László Kövér	* 1959	Fidesz