Hungarian referendum on EU refugee quotas

Government poster for the referendum in Zichyújfalu ( German  Don't take any chances! Vote for "No"! )

Poster of the two- tailed dog fun party ( Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt ) with the request to put a cross in the case of “Yes” and “No”, thereby invalidating the ballot

The Hungarian referendum on EU refugee quota was carried out on October 2, 2016 referendum in Hungary on the European Union's planned distribution of refugees to the EU countries. More than 98% of those who voted voted “No”, i. H. against EU refugee policy. However, the turnout was only 43.3%, which was below the required quorum of 50%, making the vote invalid. Most of the Hungarian opposition called for a boycott of the referendum.

background

In 2015, as part of the refugee crisis in Europe , the EU Council of Ministers decided against the votes of Hungary , Slovakia , the Czech Republic and Romania from 2015 to distribute up to 160,000 refugees within the EU . Hungary should take in a good 1,300 in this first distribution campaign. The Hungarian government then filed a complaint against this quota regulation with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in December 2015 and now wanted to bring about a decision in the country as part of the referendum. Hungary's lawsuit was later dismissed.

Question of the referendum

Eligible voters were asked to vote yes or no on the following question: "Do you want the European Union to be able to stipulate the compulsory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary even without the consent of the Hungarian Parliament ?"

Positions and election recommendations of the parties

The following table summarizes the positions of the major Hungarian parties, including voting recommendations. The parties in bold were represented in Parliament on the day of the vote.

electoral recommendation	Political party		Political orientation	Party leader	receipt
Yes		Magyar Liberális Párt (MLP)	liberalism	Gábor Fodor
No		Fidesz	National conservatism	Viktor Orbán
		Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP)	Christian Democracy	Zsolt Semjén
		Jobbik	right-wing nationalism	Gábor Vona
		Hungarian Workers' Party (MMP)	communism	Gyula Thürmer
		Independent Party of Small Farmers, Agricultural Workers and the Bourgeoisie (FKgP)	Agrarianism	Péter Hegedüs
		Hungarian Truth and Life Party (MIÉP)	nationalism	Zoltán Fenyvessy
Boycott the vote		Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)	Social democracy	Gyula Molnár
		Democrats Koalíció (DK)	Social liberalism	Ferenc Gyurcsány
		Egyutt	Social liberalism	Viktor Szigetvári
		Dialogue for Hungary (PM)	Green liberalism	Tímea Szabó Gergely Karácsony
		The Homeland Party (HN)	Social conservatism	Árpád Kásler
		Modern Hungarian Movement (MoMa)	Liberal conservatism	Lajos Bokros
		Workers' Party of Hungary 2006	Marxism	Attila Vajnai
Invalid ballot		Two -tailed dog party (MKKP)	Fun party	Gergely Kovács
Neutral		Lehet Más a Politika (LMP)	Green socialism	Bernadett Szél Ákos Hadházy

International reactions

Most of the media in German-speaking countries reported critically on the referendum. In part, the situation of Hungarian Muslims was discussed, who for years have felt more and more excluded from Hungarian society. On the other hand, there were also reports of humane treatment of refugees. Regarding the political dimension of the vote of the Hungarian voters, it was said in advance from Brussels that it would have "no effect on European politics".

After the Hungarian election officers declared the referendum invalid, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff , German Vice-President of the European Parliament , spoke of a "slap in the face" for Viktor Orbán. The reactions of other elected officials from Brussels sounded similar.

Result

Result of the vote by county (percentage of "no" votes)

Turnout by counties

The preliminary final result was announced by the Hungarian electoral commission on election day around 11:15 p.m. In none of the counties was there a voter turnout of over 50 percent, nor in any of the 23 districts of Budapest. 3,418,387 votes were valid, which corresponds to 41.32% of the electorate. In all counties there were high majorities of over 97% of the “no” voters.

	number	percent
Eligible voters	8,272,625	100.0%
Voters	3,646,334	44.08%
Formally invalid voting documents	3,329	0.09%
Formally valid voting documents	3,643,005	99.91% (44.04%)
Invalid ballot	224,668	6.17%
Valid votes	3,418,387	93.83% (41.32%)
Yes votes	56.163	1.64%
Vote no	3,362,224	98.36% (40.64%)

After the vote

The day after the vote, a spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that the referendum result was "politically and legally binding". With a turnout of over 50%, parliament and government would have been constitutionally obliged to implement the voting decision. Since the turnout was below 50%, this was not the case, but the result could not be ignored. Orbán called on the governments of the other EU countries to take note of the result of the vote and announced that he would like to amend the Hungarian constitution in order to implement the vote. Ferenc Gyurcsány , party leader of the opposition Democrats Koalíció , said that the low turnout shows the lack of popular support for the government. That is a good thing because the migration issue is a pan-European problem.

Hungary was later condemned by the ECJ for breaking the law by rejecting the distribution of refugees.

See also

• National consultation (Hungary 2017)

Web links

Commons : Hungarian referendum on EU refugee quotas  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Emma Graham-Harrison: 'They've brought evil out': Hungary's poll on migration divides a nation . In: The Guardian , September 17, 2016 (English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} National referendum October 2, 2016. Hungarian Electoral Commission, October 2, 2016, accessed on October 2, 2016 (English). 
2. ↑ Orban does not win enough refugee opponents. October 2, 2016, accessed November 23, 2019 . 
3. ^ Court allows referendum on EU refugee quota , Zeit Online , May 3, 2016
4. ↑ Hungarians will vote on EU refugee quotas in October ( memento of the original from September 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Zeit Online , July 5, 2016 
5. ↑ ECJ rejects complaint against refugee quota. June 23, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Tudta? A Liberálisok az IGEN mellett kampányolnak. 888.hu, September 7, 2016, accessed on September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Orbán: Népszavazás lesz a betelepítési kvótáról. Magyar Nemzet , February 24, 2016, accessed May 26, 2016 (Hungarian). 
8. ↑ A Jobbik a betelepítési Kvota elleni szavazásra buzdít. Magyar Idők, July 5, 2016, accessed September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
9. ↑ Nemet mondunk az EU agressziójára, igent a kvótanépszavazásra! munkaspart.hu, May 18, 2016, accessed on September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
10. ↑ Egy hónap múlva: Ne aggódj, menj szavazni! (No longer available online.) Fkgp.hu, September 2, 2016, archived from the original on September 23, 2016 ; Retrieved September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ Most végre megtudhatja, hogy with gondol a bevándorlásról a MIÉP. Heti Világgazdaság , September 19, 2016, accessed on September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
12. ↑ "Mindenki maradjon otthon, hogy maradhassunk Európában". Népszava , July 5, 2016, accessed September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
13. ↑ Totális káoszba taszította a kvótaszavazás a baloldalt. Index.hu , August 17, 2016, accessed September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
14. ↑ Bojkottkampány indul a kvótareferendummal szemben. Népszava , July 5, 2016, accessed September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
15. ↑ October 2: miért bojkott, miért gyere tüntetni? Dialogue for Hungary , September 7, 2016, accessed September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
16. ↑ Az utókornak. ahazapartja.hu, October 1, 2016, accessed on July 17, 2018 . 
17. ↑ Közösen kampányol az Együtt, a PM és a MoMa. (No longer available online.) M1 , September 1, 2016, archived from the original on October 2, 2016 ; accessed on September 23, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Bojkottálunk, de nem maradunk otthon! amiidonk.hu, July 7, 2016, accessed July 23, 2018 . 
19. ↑ Hungary poster campaign pokes fun at migrant referendum. BBC News , September 10, 2016, accessed September 19, 2016 . 
20. ↑ Az LMP Vezetői bojkottálják Orbán kvótanépszavazását. Index.hu , July 27, 2016, accessed September 23, 2016 (Hungarian). 
21. ↑ When the populist exposes himself. Zeit Online , October 2, 2016, accessed October 2, 2016 . 
22. ↑ "It was about the wish of an authoritarian ruler". Welt Online , October 3, 2016, accessed October 3, 2016 . 
23. ↑ Tájékoztató adatok az Országos népszavazáson leadott szavazatokról. (No longer available online.) Hungarian Electoral Commission, October 2, 2016, archived from the original on October 2, 2016 ; Retrieved October 2, 2016 (Hungarian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
24. ↑ Hungary PM claims EU migrant quota referendum victory. BBC News, October 3, 2016, accessed October 3, 2016 . 
25. ↑ The ECJ ruled against three EU states. tagesschau.de , April 2, 2020, accessed April 25, 2020 .