Election Committee rejects complaint concerning referendum incident

Budapest, February 26 (MTI) – The National Election Committee has turned down an appeal by Socialist MP Zoltán Lukács for an investigation into an incident on Tuesday, in which a group of thugs prevented Socialists from submitting a referendum initiative.

At a session on Friday, the committee turned down the appeal saying that Lukács had not accurately defined the violation he was complaining about and that Lukács had given an address different from the one in the official registry.

Lukács corrected the address and indicated the legal stipulations which had been violated in the incident, but committee head András Patyi said it was not possible to amend such appeals.

Patyi said his committee would evaluate circumstances under which the Socialists attempted to submit their initiative and would look at the footage recorded by the National Election Office’s cameras on Tuesday morning. He added that “equality between voters would be harmed if appeals with formal deficiencies were accepted” because it would mean that irregular appeals by other people should also be accepted.

Socialist member of the committee András Litresits insisted that the footage should be viewed, and said that the committee must not overlook Tuesday’s “brutal, ignoble, scandalous” developments.

Adrián Fábián, an elected member of the committee, voiced his conviction that the law had been violated and warned that the committee is responsible to ensure lawful circumstances. He also noted that the address Lukacs had indicated included a street name which was changed in the meantime.

Andrea Borbély, delegated by the Jobbik party, also urged that the incident should be investigated.

The body concluded that if Lukács’s appeal, complete with Friday’s amendments, meets the requirements, it will be dealt with as a new appeal within three days.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters