Description
The most recent changes in the system of municipal representation in Budapest, resulting in the inequality of the vote, make the project necessary. The expected outcomes are: constitutional review of the new electoral system, initiated by the ombudsperson following the complaints received from participants in the campaign, an increased awareness of a sizable part of the target group of the violation of their electoral rights, and the increased popularity of the HCLU. Furthermore, our outcomes include the target group’s increased awareness of forms of political participation beyond voting, their increasingly informed voting behavior, and increased sensitivity concerning how electoral rights violations affect citizens’ interests. The outputs are an interactive campaign launch event, an ironic campaign homepage directing users to a call for action, a complaint template to be sent to the ombudsperson, FB-games and offline materials, dissipation of outcomes to the target group and beyond. 18-25 yr old eligible voters in Budapest constitute the target group. Besides them, potential beneficiaries of the project include older, internet-using voters.
Summary of project results
The inequality of the vote in the municipal representation of Budapest made the project necessary; municipal elections in October 2014 made it timely. Users of the campaign’s website lodged 168 complaints to the ombudsperson about their unequal vote. The project made a significant number of young voters aware of their unequal suffrage, and recruited a large number of young followers of the HCLU’s facebook page. The ombudsperson did not turn to the Constitutional Court following the complaints, but his reply helps international human rights litigation planned as a follow-up to the project. The campaign targeted 18-25 yr old voters, engaging them in 3 campaign events and a campaign video, in distributing posters, flyers and stickers, and eliciting feedback for the campaign. The main success of the project is their mobilization to protect their own rights, to be sustained by further civic empowerment, mobilization, and facilitating communication between the mobilized and the ombudsperson.
Summary of bilateral results