DK: Invalid votes could be counted as valid under referendum instructions

Budapest, September 19 (MTI) – The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) has protested against the National Election Office’s recent instructions to vote counters of the upcoming quota referendum.

DK deputy leader Csaba Molnár told a press conference on Monday that the instructions were aimed at “making obviously invalid votes valid”. He added that those votes could even be counted as “no” votes, supporting the government’s initiative.

Molnár said that “voter’s wish” was a basic consideration when deciding if a vote was valid, while the office’s instructions suggested, for example, that a vote, crossed out completely by two lines could be taken as a valid “no” if the two lines crossed each other in the circle next to that option.

Molnár referred to the instruction brochure as a “desperate attempt” to ensure validity to the government’s “pseudo referendum”, and called on voters to stay away from the polls on October 2.

Source: MTI