General Information
At Stake in this Referendum:
Hungary will hold a referendum on 3 April 2022 in tandem with elections for the National Assembly (Országgyűlés).
The government-initiated referendum pertains to the adoption of the controversial Child Protection Act, which passed in June 2021 with support of pro-government legislators and some independents but was boycotted by the opposition. [1] Widely framed by the government as a referendum on “LGBT propaganda,” the ballot will feature questions related to sex-education programs in schools and the presentation of sexuality-related content in the media. [2]
The Hungarian public will be presented with the following referendum questions [3]:
- “Do you support the teaching of sexual orientation to minors in public education institutions without parental consent?"
- “Do you support the promotion of sex reassignment therapy for underage children?”
- “Do you support the unrestricted exposure of underage children to sexually explicit media content that may affect their development?”
- “Do you support the showing of sex-change media content to minors?”
Voters may respond by tallying “IGEN” or “NEM,” meaning “YES” or “NO.”
Government Structure:
- Chief of State: President János ÁDER (since 10 May 2012)
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Viktor ORBÁN (since 29 May 2010)
- Assembly: The National Assembly (Országgyűlés) is a unicameral legislature comprised of 199 seats.
Electoral System:
- The National Assembly (Országgyűlés) is a unicameral legislature whose 199 members are elected using a system of mixed-member proportional representation. The first 106 seats are determined in single-member constituencies using a first-past-the-post system. The remaining 93 members are determined using proportional representation in a single countrywide constituency. Parties which run alone in the national constituency must surpass a five percent threshold to obtain seats. Similarly, two parties sharing a joint list must receive at least ten percent of the vote to gain representation, while joint lists consisting of three or more parties must surpass a fifteen percent threshold. While seats in the nationwide constituency are distributed proportionally, surplus votes are accounted for using the d’Hondt method. [4]
Last Election:
- The previous parliamentary elections were held on 8 April 2018.
Main Parties in this Election:
- Coalition: Fidesz-KDNP Party Alliance* / Fidesz–KDNP Pártszövetség
- Leader: Viktor ORBÁN
- Seats won in last election: 133
- Coalition: United for Hungary** / Egységben Magyarországért
- Leader: Péter MÁRKI-ZAY
- Seats won in last election: New
- Party: Our Homeland Movement / Mi Hazánk
- Leader: László TOROCZKAI
- Seats won in last election: Did not exist (currently possesses 2 seats)
* The “Fidesz-KDNP Party Alliance” is comprised of the following:
- Party: Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance / Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség
- Leader: Viktor ORBÁN
- Seats won in last election: 116
- Party: Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) / Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt
- Leader: Zsolt SEMJÉN
- Seats won in last election: 17
**The “United Hungary” coalition consists of six parties, five of which maintain parliamentary representation:
- Party: Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) / Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom
- Leader: Péter JAKAB
- Seats won in last election: 26 (currently possesses 17 seats)
- Party: Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) / Magyar Szocialista Párt
- Leaders: Bertalan TÓTH and Ágnes KUNHALMI
- Seats won in last election: 17 (currently possesses 15 seats)
- Party: Dialogue for Hungary (Párbeszéd) / Párbeszéd Magyarországért
- Leaders: Gergely KARÁCSONY and TÍMEA SZABÓ
- Seats won in last election: 3 (currently possesses 5 seats)
- Party: Democratic Coalition / Demokratikus Koalíció
- Leader: Ferenc GYURCSÁNY
- Seats won in last election: 9
- Party: LMP – Hungary’s Green Party (LMP) / LMP – Magyarország Zöld Pártja
- Leaders: Máté KANÁSZ-NAGY and Erzsébet SCHMUCK
- Seats won in last election: 8 (currently possesses 6)
Gender Data:
- Female Population: 5,111,556 (2020 est.) [7]
- Is Hungary a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (signed 6 June 1980) [8]
- Has Hungary ratified CEDAW: Yes (ratified 22 December 1980) [9]
- Gender Quota: There are no legislated gender quotas in Hungary. [10]
- Female candidates in this election: N/A
- Number of Female Legislators: 26 out of 199 [11]
- Human Development Index (HDI) Position: Rank 40 at 0.854 (2020) [12]
- Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low [13]
Disability Data:
- Is Hungary a signatory to CRPD: Yes (signed on 30 March 2007) [14]
- Has Hungary ratified CRPD: Yes (ratified on 20 July 2007) [15]
- Population with a disability: 1,484,631 (2022 est.) [16]
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/15/hungary-passes-law-banning-lbgt-content-in-schools
[2] https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-approves-referendum-lgbt/31587399.html
[3] https://hungarytoday.hu/hungarian-child-protection-law-referendum-questions-hungary/
[4] http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2141_b.htm
[5] https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/hungary/#people-and-society
[6] https://vtr.valasztas.hu/ogy2022/valasztasi-informaciok/valasztopolgarok-szama
[7] https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/hungary/#people-and-society
[8] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en
[9] Ibid.
[10] https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/126/35
[11] Ibid.
[12] https://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/HUN
[13] https://www.genderindex.org/country-profiles/
[14] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en
[15] Ibid.
[16] http://www.electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/hu/all/