A relative of a Halásztelki family who died in 2017 received a notification about the municipal and EP elections in June, and they also sent a letter to their neighbor who moved abroad in the 1980s and who would be 116 years old today, Hvg.hu reports. According to the electoral office, faulty records of the internal affairs are behind things.
One of the newspaper’s readers sent a letter to the National Electoral Office (NVI) in which they asked for information: “What kind of database do they work on and how can it happen that my grandmother, who died 7 years ago, received an election notice?”. The family member’s death certificate was also attached to the letter. The question arose after the official notice was mailed to their deceased relative that they had been added to the electoral roll, and where and how they could vote on June 9.
But this is not the only strange thing: a man born in 1908 who lived next door to the affected family was notified about the elections, but by the way he moved to another country around 1980. If the man were alive, he would be 116 years old. Part of the story is that they were both of Bulgarian origin, the grandmother lived in Hungary as a Bulgarian citizen, but had the right to vote in municipal elections.
The NVI’s response revealed that the data was incorrectly included in the personal data and address declaration maintained by the Ministry of the Interior. The notices are compiled by the election office based on this register, the letter was sent automatically. The Election Information Service contacted the interior, who will clarify their records in both cases.
The socialist delegate of the National Election Commission told the Hvg that “it is more than worrying that the Ministry of the Interior keeps the data of citizens so inaccurately”. András Litresits added: “It’s a shame that the voter list must be destroyed after the vote, it would be interesting to look back at, for example, what happened to the votes of the grandmother who had already passed away in the 2019 municipal and EP elections, i.e. whether there was abuse or a crime “.
