The ruling Fidesz party has proposed that candidates should collect the signatures of 200 supporters as a precondition for running in parliamentary elections, deputy chairman of the ruling Fidesz party Lajos Kosa said on public television M1 late on Monday.
It would replace the current system of collecting nomination slips from voters. At present, 750 such slips are necessary for the candidate to become eligible.
Kosa added that the new method will “open the door of democracy wide”. Voters could support more than one candidate in the same election.
Voting-age Hungarians will have 15 days before a given election to register, and their registration will be valid for three elections. Those failing to register for the first election, however, will have an opportunity to register for further elections after the first vote, Kosa said.
Kosa also confirmed that campaign silence before elections will be scrapped.
Speaking on public radio on Tuesday morning, Kosa said that the new system of collecting signatures was necessary because nomination slips “could not save politics from buffoons”.
The party is expected to submit the bill on election procedures to parliament on Tuesday.
