13th Law to Amend the Federal Electoral Law (13. Gesetz zur Änderung des Bundewahlgesetzes)

Note: The provisions of Articles 1 (1) and (2) of the 13th Law to amend the Federal Electoral Law have not yet entered into force. They shall not apply to the elections to the 14th Bundestag and are therefore printed separately. The 13th Law to amend the Federal Electoral Law of 15 November 1996 (Federal Gazette I p. 1712) is worded as follows:


Table of Contents

Section 1 Amendment of the Federal Electoral Law
Section 2 Determination of the Constituency Delimitation for 299 Constituencies
Section 3 Publicising the Re-Delimitation of Constituencies
Section 4 Entry into Force

The German Bundestag has enacted the following law:

Section 1 Amendment of the Federal Electoral Law

The Federal Electoral Law in the version promulgated on 23 July 1993 (Federal Gazette, I p. 1288, 1594) as well as on 30 March 1994 (Federal Gazette I, p. 680) and 15 September 1994 (Federal Gazette I, p. 2417), most recently amended by the law of 10 May 1994 (Federal Gazette I, p. 993) shall be amended as follows:

1. In Article 1, Paragraph (1) the number "656" shall be replaced by the number "598"; in Article1, Paragraph (2) the number "328" shall be replaced by the number "299".

2. Article 3 shall be amended as follows:

a) Paragraph (1) shall be worded as follows:
 

"(1) The following principles shall be observed when the constituency delimitations are being drawn up:

1. The Länder boundaries shall be respected.

2. The number of constituencies in the respective Länder should as far as possible reflect the latter's share of the total populaton.

3. The population of a constituency should not deviate from the mean population of the constituencies by more than 15 per cent in either direction; where the deviation constitutes more than 25 per cent, a re-delimitation shall be made.

4. Each constituency should form a coherent area.

5. Wherever possible, the boundaries of municipalities, districts and towns independent of district administration should be respected.

In the determination of population figures, aliens (Article 1, Paragraph (2) of the Aliens Law) shall not be taken into account."

b) The previous Paragraph (1) shall become Paragraph (2).

c) Paragraph (3) shall be worded as follows
 

"(3) The Constituency Delimitation Commission shall have the task of reporting on population changes in the electoral area and of explaining whether it considers alterations in the delimation of constituencies to be necessary in the light of such changes and what alterations should be made. In its report it may submit re-delimitation proposals for other reasons as well. In presenting its proposals for the delimitation of constituencies, the Commission shall bear in mind the principles listed in Paragraph (1).

d) The previous Paragraphs (3) and (4) shall become Paragraphs (4) and (5).

3. The constituencies listed in the Annex to this Law will be divided and described as shown in the Annex to Article 2, Paragraph (2).

Section 2 Determination of the Constituency Delimitation for 299 Constituencies

The delimitation into 299 constituencies shall be determined until the end of the 13th legislative period of the Bundestag in a Law amending the Federal Electoral Law attached as an Annex to Article 2, Paragraph (2); this shall not apply if the 13th legislative period ends prematurely. In this connection the principles listed in Section 1, No. 2 shall be respected.

Section 3 Publicising the Re-Delimitation of Constituencies

In the Annex to the Federal Electoral Law The Federal Ministry of the Interior is authorised to re-delimit constituencies on the basis of changes in areas or names at the local authority level and to publicise this in the Federal Gazette.

Section 4 Entry into Force

(1) Section 1 No. 1 shall enter into force on the same day as the Law named in Section 2 enters into force. The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall publish the date of entry into force in the Federal Gazette.

(2) Section 1 No. 2 shall enter into force on the day of the constituting session of the 14th German Bundestag. The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall publish the date of entry into force in the Federal Gazette.

(3) The remaining provisions shall enter into force one day after promulgation.
 

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The above translation was first published by  Inter Nationes as part of: Federal Electoral Law, 3rd ed. 1998, ed. by Sigrid Born, translated by Gerard Finan and Janet Barton and produced by Ilona Orthen. Reproduced with kind permission. © 1998 Inter Nationes. This HTML edition © 1998 Gerhard Dannemann. The contents of this page may be downloaded and printed out in single copies for individual use only. Making multiple copies without permission is prohibited.