electoral committee of at least twelve
members, chosen by the municipal council of the town or by the general
council of the _comitat_. The list of voters in each district is drawn
up by a sub-committee of this body. When an election is to be held,
the Minister of the Interior fixes, thirty days in advance, a period
of ten days during which the polling must be completed. As in Great
Britain, the elections do not take place simultaneously, and a
candidate defeated in one constituency may stand, and possibly be
successful, in another. All polling within a particular town or
_comitat_, however, is concluded within one day. Candidates may be
nominated by any ten electors of the district, and candidacies may be
declared until within thirty minutes of the hour (eight o'clock A. M.)
for the polling to begin.

Voting is everywhere public and oral. Each elector, after giving his
name and establishing his identity, simply proclaims in a loud voice
the name of the candidate for whom he desires to have his vote
recorded. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, the central
committee fixes a date (at least fourteen days distant) for a second
polling, on which occasion the contest lies between the two candidates
who at the first balloting polled the largest number of votes. Prior
to a law of 1899 defining jurisdiction in electoral matters, Hungarian
elections were tempestuous, and not infrequently scandalous. Beginning
with the elections of 1901, however, electoral manners have shown
considerable improvement; though ideal conditions can hardly be
realized until oral voting shall have been replaced by the secret
ballot.[701] Any elector who has attained the age of twenty-four, (p. 498)
is a registered voter, and can speak Magyar (the official language of
Hungarian parliamentary proceedings) is eligible as a candidate.
Deputies receive a stipend of 4,800 crowns a year, with an allowance
of 1,600 crowns for house rent.

[Footnote 701: Seatus Viator, Corruption and Reform
in Hungary: a Study of Electoral Practice (London,
1911).]

*550. Parliamentary Organization and Procedure.*--The national
parliament assembles in regular session once a year at Budapest.
Following a general election, the Chamber of Deputies meets, under the
presidency of its oldest member, after a lapse of time (not exceeding
thirty days) fixed by the royal letters of convocation. The Chamber of
Magnate