March 21st, 2011

Children unlikely to get vote via parents in new constitution, official says

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It is almost certain the government will decide in the end not to give parents the right to vote on behalf of their children, an official told journalists on Friday.

An earlier version of the draft law laid the ground for passing a measure in the future to enfranchise children at the voting booth via their parents, but the final version of the basic law is unlikely to include even this option, said Gergely Gulyas deputy head of the committee for drafting the new constitution.

Feedback from some 800,000 citizens in a national survey on what should be included in the constitution showed low public support for the initiative.

The official also said that the new constitution would not seek to change Hungary’s political system or its governmental structure.

Gulyas said his personal belief was that Hungarian citizens living outside the country should be granted “some form of” voting rights.

Hungary’s parliament is expected to approve the new constitution on April 18.

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3 Comments

  1. Humphster says:
    March 21, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Ok, then. How about my dog and cat?

  2. TiborB says:
    March 21, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    “… Hungarian citizens living outside the country should be granted “some form of” voting rights.” – A lot of peoples are waiting for this “some form of voting right” to be specified….

  3. Viking says:
    March 21, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    A lot of peoples are waiting for this “some form of voting right” to be specified….
    TiborB at March 21, 2011 3:29 PM
    —-
    Let us divide each vote cast outside post-Trianon Hungary into 12 756 parts
    Then depending on the actual place you cast your vote, you get more parts of that vote, the closer you are to Hungary proper
    So, if you are inside Hungary, you get 1 vote
    If you are on the opposite side of the Earth your vote is just worth 1/12756-part, meaning you have to collect another 12 755 fellow Hungarians to equal one vote cast in Hungary, or you just ‘move home’ over the elections
    .
    The disadvantage of this system is of course it does not take into consideration votes cast on the Moon and other planets of Hungarian interest, but this Government has not made a reputation so far of letting reality come in the way for its law-making process