Although voting is always supposed to be easy, participating in the migrant settlement quota referendum on October 2 might cause trouble for hundreds of thousands of Hungarian expats. According to Hungarian news website Nol.hu, people living abroad might have to travel thousands of kilometers to reach embassies or consulates to cast their vote. On the other hand, Hungarians in neighboring countries who possess dual nationalities will have an easier time: they can vote by post.

Such discrimination between Hungarian voters is nothing new. There have been many complaints about the process lately, but they were dispelled both by the Hungarian Curia and the European Court of Human Rights. The court in Strasbourg ruled that since members of the Hungarian minority can only vote for party lists, while Hungarian nationals living or working in foreign countries can vote for individual candidates as well, it is totally acceptable that their voting opportunities differ.

Not unconstitutional

This, however, will not be the case with the migrant settlement quota referendum. István Ujhelyi, vice-president of the Hungarian Socialist Party (Magyar Szocialista Párt – MSZP), told Nol.hu that since people can only vote “yes” or “no” in October, everybody should have the right to vote by post.

The Socialist politician asked András Patyi, head of the National Election Committee, what could be done to guarantee equal voting rights to expats and to members of the Hungarian minority. Patyi pointed out that laws are enacted by Parliament, not the committee, but he also denied the present practice was unconstitutional. He cited the Curia’s ruling according to which Hungarian expats can be expected to cast their votes at embassies and consulates, because “their relationship with the state is stronger and more direct”.

Online daily Nol.hu is of the opinion that it would not make a big difference if expats were allowed to vote by post from an administrative point of view and would probably result in more votes being cast.

Critics claim that it is precisely the votes of the over 300,000 Hungarians residing in the UK that the government fears, and accuse the government of deliberately making it as difficult as possible for expat Hungarians to participate in elections.

During the 2014 parliamentary elections, only 24,000 people cast their votes at embassies and consulates, while 128,000 Hungarians with dual nationalities voted by post. This means that the government has managed to keep hundreds of thousands of expats away from voting by not allowing them to cast their ballots by post.