Government’s “Child Protection” Referendum Invalid, Election Cttee Rules

The National Election Committee (NVB) has officially declared the Fidesz government’s controversial April 3 referendum “on child protection” invalid, as the number of valid responses cast did not reach the 50-percent-plus-one threshold for any of the four questions.

A total of 4,107,652 valid responses needed to be cast in order for the referendum held in parallel with the general election to be valid, the NVB said. Between 3,870,042 and 3,910,436 valid responses (47-48pc) were given to the four referendum questions.

• To the question: “Do you support children in public schools participating in classes demonstrating sexual orientations without parental consent?” 3,910,436 valid responses were given (47.6pc), of which 92.32 percent indicated ‘no’.
• To the question: “Do you support information about gender change treatments being given to children?” 3,880,381 valid responses were given (47.23pc), of which 95.92 percent indicated ‘no’.
• To the question: “Do you support media content of a sexual nature and affecting the development of children being presented to them without any restrictions?” 3,872,161 valid responses were given (47.13pc), of which 95.33 percent indicated ‘no’.
• To the question: “Do you support media content presenting gender change being presented to children?” 3,870,042 valid responses were given (47.11pc), of which 95.17 percent indicated ‘no’.

The election committee’s decision is not final, and appeals can be submitted to the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, within three days.

Under Hungary’s referendum law, a referendum is valid if voter turnout is over 50 percent. It is considered conclusive if more than half of the valid votes are cast for the same answer.

featured image illustration via Lajos Soós/MTI