Hungary: mothers get extra votes on behalf of their children

[apricotflower]

Hungarian mothers to get extra votes for their children in elections

Comments

[mollywobbles867]

"This is unprecedented in a democratic constitution, and harkens back to 19th-century use of property qualifications to restrict the franchise," said Ginsburg. "Over-weighting votes for those with families undermines the political rights of those who choose not to have families."

That is my problem with it, but it's not my country. idk

[midoskeek]

This is so weird...Yes, it's a conservative party, but a life from conception stance is so ridiculously restrictive to women (and logic) and seems completely at odds with giving mothers a second vote - at least at first glance. I don't understand the political advantage.

[aguafiestas]

There are so many things wrong with this (Romani people influencing elections is not one of them. What the hell.) "One person, one vote" is the basis of democracy, but it requires that the person be intellectually capable of voting and, you know, able to vote for him or herself. The notion of voting on behalf of children is ridiculous. Not to mention how the system would give an unfair advantage to people with children. There's a way to take children's welfare into account, but this is not it.

Also, I'm concerned that they specify mothers as opposed to parents. It seems like it would be another way to pigeonhole women into the role of caregiver.

In short, ugh.

[lightningxsnow]

This is a good comment.

[messyhair]

agreed, good comment.

[catalana]

From my reading of the article, it seemed to give half a vote to each parent.

[streussal]

"Some 20% of society are children," said József Szájer, a senior Fidesz official and MEP. "This is quite a considerable group that is left out of representation. The interests of these future generations are not represented in decision-making."

This is not giving children a voice. This is giving parents an extra voice.

Just because someone has children does not mean they're necessarily going to vote for child-friendly policies. (If there was a general agreement on what such policies would be.)

[terry_terrible]

I just can't take this seriously. It assumes that all parents vote in the best interests of their children. Plus, the whole "think of the children" reasoning meme is usually proceeded by some of the most vile things out there.