Kúria rules government’s campaign letter to voters abroad unlawful

Budapest (MTI) – Campaign letters for the Oct. 2 referendum on European Union migrant quotas sent on behalf of the government to ethnic Hungarians abroad were unlawful, the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, ruled on Thursday and called on the government to desist.

The Kúria said the letters violated the principles of equal opportunity and citizens’ entitlement to exercise their rights in a bona fide way. The ruling overturned a decision the National Election Committee made last Friday.

A private individual submitted a complaint to the election office objecting to the fact that the government had sent campaign letters to voters without a permanent address in Hungary. According to the complaint, the government was not authorised to contact people without a permanent address in Hungary because the government, as the initiator of the referendum, and parties with a parliamentary group are authorised to receive only addresses registered in election districts.

The Kúria ruled that the government is only authorised to use a database that is also available to other participants in the campaign and must not use one that it acquired in its capacity as the practitioner of public authority.