| Federal Electoral Law (Bundewahlgesetz, BGW) |
Federal Electoral Law
Enacted on 7 May 1956 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 383)
In the version promulgated on 23 July 1993 (Federal Gazette II p. 1288, 1594) most recently amended by the law of 15 November 1996 (Federal Gazette I p. 1712)
Section III Franchise and Eligibility
Section VI Establishment of the Election Result
Section VII Special Regulations for By-Elections and Repeat Elections
Section VIII Attaining and Losing Membership of the Bundestag
(1) Subject to variations resulting from this Law, the German Bundestag shall consist of 656 members. They shall be elected in a general, direct, free, equal and secret ballot by the Germans entitled to vote, in accordance with the principle of proportional representation combined with the personal election of candidates.
(2) Of the members, 328 shall be elected from nominations in the constituencies and the rest from Land nominations (Land lists).
(1) The area in which this Law applies shall be the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.
(2) The division of the electoral area into constituencies shall be as shown in the Annex to this Law.
(3) Each constituency shall be divided into polling districts for the purpose of voting.
(1) The Federal President shall appoint a permanent Constituency Delimitation Commission. It shall consist of the President of the Federal Statistical Office, a judge of the Federal Administrative Court, and five other members.
(2) The Commission shall have the task of reporting on population changes in the electoral area and of explaining whether it considers alterations in the delimitation 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 following principles :
In the determination of population figures, aliens (Article 1, Paragraph (2) of the Aliens Law) shall not be taken into account.
(3) The report of the Constituency Delimitation Commission shall be rendered to the Federal Ministry of the Interior within fifteen months after the beginning of the legislative term of the Bundestag. The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall immediately forward it to the Bundestag and shall publish it in the Federal Official Bulletin. At the request of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Constituency Delimitation Commission shall render a supplementary report ; in this case the second sentence shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(4) Should Land boundaries be altered in accordance with statutory provisions governing procedures for other changes in the territory of the Länder pursuant to Article 29, Paragraph (7) of the Basic Law, the boundaries of the constituencies affected shall also be altered correspondingly. Should two or more constituencies be affected in the incorporating Land, or should an exclave of a Land be formed, the new territory shall belong to the constituency to which belongs the municipality, the municipal district, or the non-municipal area to which it has been added. Changes in Land boundaries which are made after the thirty-second month after the beginning of the legislative term shall not affect the division into constituencies until the following legislative term.
Each voter shall have two votes, a first vote to be cast for a Member of Parliament representing a constituency and a second vote be cast for a Land list.
In each constituency one member shall be returned to Parliament. The candidate obtaining the majority of the votes cast shall be deemed elected. Where two or more candidates obtain the same number of votes, the election shall be settled by the Constituency Returning Officer drawing lots.
(1) For the distribution of the seats to be occupied on the basis of Land lists, the second votes cast for each Land list shall be added up. In cases where a successful candidate in a constituency is one who has been nominated in accordance with Article 20, Paragraph (3), or by a party not entitled to submit a Land list in the Land in question, the second votes of those voters whose first votes were cast for him shall be disregarded. There shall be deducted from the total number of Members of Parliament (Article 1, Paragraph (1)) the number of successful constituency members referred to in the second sentence above or nominated by parties which, in accordance with Paragraph (6) of the present Article, are not to be taken into consideration.
(2) The remaining seats pursuant to the third sentence of Paragraph (1) shall be distributed among the Land lists on the basis of the second votes to be taken into account according to the first and second sentences of Paragraph (1), as follows. The total number of seats remaining shall be multiplied by the number of second votes cast for each Land list in the election area and the product divided by the sum total of second votes for all Land lists to be taken into account. First, each Land list shall receive one seal for each whole number attributed to it. The remaining seats shall be allocated in the descending sequence of decimal fractions resulting from the calculation according to the second sentence of this Paragraph. In case of equal fractions the assignment of the last seat shall be decided by the Federal Returning Officer drawing lots.
(3) If according to the distribution described in Paragraph (2) a Land list that has attracted more than one half of the total number of second votes of all Land lists to be taken into account does not receive more than one half of the seats available it shall, notwithstanding the fourth and fifth sentences of Paragraph (2), be allocated an additional seat. The seats then remaining shall be distributed according to the fourth and fifth sentences of Paragraph (2).
(4) From the number of members thus arrived at for each Land list shall be deducted the number of seats won by the party in question in the constituencies of the respective Land. The remaining seats shall be filled from the Land list concerned in the order laid down therein. Candidates who have been elected in a constituency shall be disregarded in the Land list. Should more seats be assigned to a land list than there are candidates nominated in it, these seats shall remain vacant.
(5) A party shall retain all the seats it has gained in the constituencies even if they exceed the number arrived at in accordance with Paragraphs (2) and (3). In this event the total number of seats (Article 1, Paragraph (1)) shall be increased by the difference in the numbers ; renewed calculation as under Paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Article shall not take place.
(6) In distributing the seats among the Land lists, only such parties shall be taken into consideration as have obtained at least five per cent of the valid second votes cast in the electoral area or have won a seat in at least three constituencies. The first sentence shall not apply to lists submitted by parties representing national minorities.
(1) Unless it is declared that one or more Land lists concerned are to be excluded from the combination of lists, Land lists of the same party shall be deemed to be combined.
(2) In the distribution of seats, combined lists shall be considered to be a single list in relation to the other lists.
(3) The seats assigned to a combined list shall be distributed among the Land lists concerned in accordance with Article 6, Paragraph (2). Article 6, Paragraphs (4) and (5), shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(1) Electoral bodies shall be
the Federal Returning Officer and the Federal Electoral Committee for the Electoral Area,
a Land Returning Officer and a Land Electoral Committee for each Land,
a Constituency Returning Officer and a Constituency Electoral Committee for each constituency,
an Electoral Officer and an Electoral Board for each polling district, and
at least one Electoral Officer and an Electoral Board in each constituency to establish the results of the postal ballot. The number of Electoral Boards necessary to complete the counting of the postal votes on election day shall be determined by the Constituency Returning Officer.
(2) For several neighbouring constituencies a Joint Constituency Returning Officer may be appointed and a Joint Electoral Committee formed ; the order shall be made by the Land Returning Officer.
(3) To establish the results of the postal ballot, Electoral Officers and Electoral Boards need not be appointed for every constituency but for one or several municipalities or for each district in the constituency. The order shall be made by the Land Government or the agency designated by it.
(1) The Federal Returning Officer and his Deputy shall be appointed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior ; the Land Returning Officers, Constituency Returning Officers and Electoral Officers and their Deputies shall be appointed by the Land Government or the agency designated by it.
(2) The Federal Electoral Committee shall be composed of the Federal Returning Officer as Chairman and eight persons entitled to vote appointed by him as Committee Members. The other Electoral Committees shall be composed of the Returning Officer as Chairman and of six persons entitled to vote appointed by him as Committee Members. The Electoral Boards shall be composed of the Electoral Officer as Chairman, of his Deputy and of another three to five persons entitled to vote appointed as Board Members by the Electoral Officer ; the Land Government or the agency designated by it may order that the members of the Electoral Board shall be appointed by the local authority and the members of the Electoral Board for the establishment of the results of the postal ballot by the Constituency Returning Officer, in the event of an order pursuant to Article 8, Paragraph (3), by the local authority or county authority alone or in consultation with the Electoral Officer. In appointing Committee Members and Board Members, regard shall as far as possible be paid to the political parties represented in the polling district concerned.
(3) No person may be a member of more than one electoral body. Candidates standing for election, spokesmen/spokeswomen for nominations and deputy spokesmen/spokeswomen may not be appointed to membership of an electoral body.
(1) The Electoral Committees and Electoral Boards shall meet, confer and reach their decisions in public session. When otherwise not stipulated by this Law, decisions shall be taken by majority vote ; in the case of a tie the Chairman shall have the casting vote.
(2) The members of the electoral bodies, their deputies and the keeper of the minutes shall be bound to perform the duties of their offices impartially and to maintain secrecy regarding information to which they have access as a result of their official duties.
The Members of the Electoral Committees and the Members of the Electoral Boards shall perform their functions in an honorary capacity. Every person entitled to vote shall be bound to accept this honorary post if it is offered to him or her. The honorary post may be refused only on substantial grounds.
(1) All Germans within the meaning of Article 116, Paragraph (1) of the Basic Law shall be entitled to vote, provided that on the day of the election they
(2) Also entitled to vote, provided they fulfill the other conditions, are Germans within the meaning of Article 116, Paragraph (1) of the Basic law who, on the day of the election,
Upon their return to the Federal Republic of Germany, the period of three months provided for in Paragraph (1), No. 2 above shall not apply. For the application of Nos. 2 and 3, a previous domicile or residence in the area stipulated in Article 3 of the Unification Treaty is to be taken into account.
(3) For the purposes of this Law, a domicile shall be any enclosed space which is used for dwelling or sleeping. Caravans and house-boats, however, shall only be considered to be domiciles if they are not or only occasionally moved.
(4) To the extent that any of the persons mentioned hereunder does not have or has not had a domicile in the Federal Republic of Germany, the following shall be considered a domicile within the meaning of Paragraph (1). No. 2 or Paragraph (2), Nos. 2 and 3 :
(5) In calculating the three-month period pursuant to Paragraph (1), No. 1 and Paragraph (2), Nos. 2 and 3, the day on which the domicile is occupied or the residence is begun shall be included.
A person shall be disqualified from voting if
(1) Only such persons as are entered in a voters' register or have a polling card shall be permitted to vote.
(2) Anyone entered in a voters' register may only vote in the polling district of the voters' register in which he or she is entered.
(3) Anyone possessing a polling card may vote in the constituency in which the polling card was issued
(4) Each person entitled to vote may vote only once and must do so personally.
(1) There shall be eligible to stand for parliament only such persons as, on election day,
(2) A person shall be ineligible to stand for parliament if
The Federal President shall decide the day on which the general election is to take place (election day). The election day must fall on a Sunday or on a statutory public holiday.
(1) The local authorities shall maintain a register of persons entitled to vote for each polling district. The voters' register shall be laid out on display for the general public on working days from the twentieth until the sixteenth day before the election.
(2) A person entitled to vote who is prevented from casting his or her vote in the polling district of the voters' register in which he or she is entered, or has not been entered in the voters' register for reasons outside his control, shall be issued with a polling card on application.
(1) Nominations of candidates may be submitted by parties and, in accordance with Article 20, by persons entitled to vote.
(2) A party which has not been continuously represented by at least five representatives in the Bundestag or in a Landtag (state parliament) since the last election on the basis of nominations made by the party itself may only submit a nomination as a party if it has announced its intended participation in the election to the Federal Returning Officer in writing not later than the ninetieth day before the election and has been recognized as a party by the Federal Electoral Committee. Such notification must include the name to be used by the party in the election. It must be personally signed by at least three members of the national executive committee, including the chairman or his deputy. If a party does not have a national executive committee, the management committee of the party's principle organization shall function in its place. The party's written statutes and written programme as well as proof that the executive committee has been duly appointed in accordance with the statutes shall accompany the notification.
(3) The Federal Returning Officer shall examine the notification pursuant to Paragraph (2) immediately upon receiving it. If it is incomplete he shall inform the executive committee without delay, requesting that the missing information be furnished. After the time limit for the submission of such notification has expired, only deficiencies in otherwise valid notifications may be rectified. A notification shall not be deemed valid if
Once a decision recognizing a party has been taken, any further action to remove deficiencies shall be ruled out. The party's executive committee may appeal to the Federal Electoral Committee against decisions by the Federal Returning Officer pertaining to the removal of deficiencies.
(4) The Federal Electoral Committee shall establish not later than the seventy-second day before the election the following, which shall be binding on all electoral bodies :
(5) A party may submit only one constituency nomination for each constituency and only one Land list for each Land.
Constituency nominations shall be submitted in writing to the Constituency Returning Officer, and Land lists to the Land Returning Officer not later than 6 p.m. on the sixty-sixth day before the election.
(1) A constituency nomination may only contain the name of one candidate. Each candidate may only be named in one constituency and there only in one nomination. A person may only be nominated if he or she has given his or her consent in writing ; such consent shall be irrevocable.
(2) Constituency nominations by parties must bear the personal and handwritten signatures of the executive committee of the Land party organization or, where such Land organizations do not exist, the personal and handwritten signatures of the executive committees of the next lower regional organizations (Article 7, Paragraph (2) of the Law on Political Parties) in whose area the constituency is situated. Constituency nominations by parties referred to in Article 18, Paragraph (2) above must in addition bear the personal and handwritten signatures of at least 200 persons entitled to vote from the constituency ; entitlement to vote must exist at the time of signing the nomination and proof thereof must be furnished with the nomination. The requirement to present 200 signatures shall not apply to constituency nominations by parties representing national minorities.
(3) Other constituency nominations must bear the personal and handwritten signatures of at least 200 persons entitled to vote from the constituency concerned. Paragraph (2), second sentence shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(4) Constituency nominations by parties must contain the name of the party submitting them as well as any shortened form of its name if such form is used by it ; other constituency nominations must show a distinctive code name.
(1) A person may only be named as candidate of a party in a constituency if he or she has been selected for this purpose in an assembly of party members for the selection of a constituency candidate or in a special or general assembly of party representatives. An assembly of party members for the selection of a constituency candidate shall be an assembly of members of the party who at the time of their meeting are entitled to vote in the election to the Bundestag within their constituency. A special assembly of party representatives shall be an assembly of delegates elected by such an assembly of party members from their own ranks. A general assembly of party representatives shall be an assembly appointed in general by such an assembly of party members from their own ranks in view of forthcoming elections in accordance with the statutes of the party concerned (Article 6 of the Law on Political Parties).
(2) Where districts and towns independent of district administration comprise several constituencies, the candidates for those constituencies of which the area does not intersect the boundary of the district or of the town independent of district administration may be selected in a joint assembly of members or representatives.
(3) The candidates and the representatives for the assemblies of representatives shall be selected by secret ballot. Elections may take place at the earliest thirty-two months, in the case of the representatives' assembly at the earliest twenty-three months, after the beginning of the legislative term of the German Bundestag ; this shall not apply if the term ends prematurely.
(4) The executive committee of the Land party organization or, where such Land organizations do not exist, the executive committees of the next lower regional organizations (Article 7, Paragraph (2) of the Law on Political Parties) in whose area the constituency is situated, or another body provided for this purpose in the party's statutes, may object to the decision of an assembly of members or delegates. If such objection is raised, the ballot shall be repeated. Its result shall be final.
(5) Further details regarding the election of representatives for the delegates' assembly, the convening and the quorum of the assembly of members or delegates, as well as the procedure for the selection of the candidate, shall be regulated by the parties concerned in accordance with their statutes.
(6) One copy of the record of the selection of the candidate, with details as to the place and time of the assembly, the form of the invitation the number of members attending and the result of the ballot, shall be submitted together with the constituency nomination. In so doing, the chairman of the assembly and two participants designated by it shall give to the Constituency Returning Officer an assurance in lieu of an oath to the effect that the selection of the candidates has taken place by secret ballot. The Constituency Returning Officer shall have competence to administer such an assurance in lieu of an oath ; he shall be deemed to constitute an authority within the meaning of Article 156 of the Penal Code.
(1) In every constituency nomination a spokesperson and a deputy spokesperson should be designated. If such designation is not made, the first signatory shall be considered to be the spokesperson and the second to be his/her deputy.
(2) Unless provided otherwise in this Law only the spokesperson and his/her deputy each for himself/herself shall be entitled to make and receive binding statements concerning the constituency nomination.
(3) The spokesperson and his/her deputy may be removed from their posts and replaced by others through a written statement addressed to the Constituency Returning Officer by the majority of the signatories of the constituency nomination.
A constituency nomination may be withdrawn by a joint written statement of the spokesperson and his/her deputy, provided no decision has yet been reached as to its acceptance. A constituency nomination signed by at least 200 persons entitled to vote may also be withdrawn by the majority of the signatories through a statement bearing their personal and handwritten signatures.
After the expiration of the period for submitting nominations, a constituency nomination may be altered only through a joint statement in writing by the spokesperson and his/her deputy and only if the candidate has died or has become ineligible to stand for parliament. The procedure laid down in Article 21 need not be adhered to and the signatures as provided in Article 20, Paragraphs (2) and (3) shall not be required. After a decision has been made on the acceptance of a constituency nomination (Article 26, Paragraph (1), first sentence) alterations of any kind shall be excluded.
(1) The Constituency Returning Officer shall examine constituency nominations immediately upon their receipt. If he discovers errors or defects in a constituency nomination he shall immediately notify the spokesperson and demand that such errors or defects as can be corrected be remedied in due time.
(2) After expiration of the period for submitting nominations, errors or defects may only be remedied in nominations which are otherwise valid. A nomination shall not be valid if
(3) After the decision has been made on the acceptance of a constituency nomination (Article 26, Paragraph (1), first sentence), no remedying of errors and defects shall be permissible.
(4) The spokesperson may appeal to the Constituency Electoral Committee against instructions given by the Constituency Returning Officer in proceedings for the remedying of errors and defects.
(1) The Constituency Electoral Committee shall decide on the acceptability of constituency nominations on the fifty-eighth day before the election. It shall reject nominations if they
The decision shall be announced at the meeting of the Constituency Electoral Committee.
(2) If the Constituency Electoral Committee rejects a constituency nomination an appeal may be made to the Land Electoral Committee within three days after the announcement of the decision. The spokesperson for the constituency nomination, the Federal Returning Officer, and the Constituency Returning Officer shall be entitled to appeal. The Federal Returning Officer and the Constituency Returning Officer may also appeal against a decision by which a constituency nomination is accepted. The persons concerned attending the appeal proceedings shall be heard. The decision on the appeal must be taken not later than the fifty-second day before the election.
(3) The Constituency Returning Officer shall publish the accepted constituency nominations not later than the forty-eighth day before the election.
(1) Land lists may only be submitted by political parties. They must bear the personal and handwritten signatures of the executive committee of the Land party organization or, where Land organizations do not exist, those of the executive committees of the next lower regional organizations (Article 7, Paragraph (2), of the Law on Political Parties) existing within the territory of the Land ; moreover, in the case of the political parties mentioned in Article 18, Paragraph (2), they must be so signed by one per thousand of the persons entitled to vote in the Land at the last elections to the Bundestag, but by not more than 2,000 persons entitled to vote. Persons signing the Land list of one of the parties referred to in Article 18, Paragraph (2) must be entitled to vote at the time of signing the list ; proof of this entitlement must also be furnished when submitting the Land lists. The requirement to present additional signatures shall not apply to Land lists of parties representing national minorities.
(2) Land lists must show the name of the party submitting them as well as any shortened form of its name if such form is used by it.
(3) The names of the candidates must be listed in recognizable sequence.
(4) A candidate may only be nominated in one Land, and there only in one Land list. Only such persons as have given their consent in writing may be named in a Land list ; such consent shall be irrevocable.
(5) Article 21, Paragraphs (1), (3), (5) and (6), as well as Articles 22 to 25 shall apply mutatis mutandis, provided that the assurance in lieu of an oath to be given under Article 21, Paragraph (6), second sentence shall also cover an assurance to the effect that the sequence of the names of candidates shown in the Land list has been laid down by secret ballot.
(1) The Land Electoral Committee shall decide on the acceptance of the Land lists on the fifty-eighth day before the election. It shall reject Land lists if they
If a list fails to meet the requirements in respect only of individual candidates their names shall be deleted from the Land list. The decison shall be made public in the meeting of the Land Electoral Committee.
(2) If the Land Electoral Committee rejects a Land list wholly or in part, an appeal may be made to the Federal Electoral Committee within three days after the announcement of the decision. The spokesperson for the Land list and the Land Returning Officer shall be entitled to appeal. The Land Returning Officer may also appeal against a decision by which a Land list is accepted. The persons concerned attending the appeal proceedings shall be heard. The decision on the appeal must be taken not later than the fifty-second day before the election.
(3) The Land Returning Officer shall publish the accepted Land lists not later than the forty-eighth day before the election.
(1) Exclusion from the combination of Land lists (Article 7) shall be notified to the Federal Returning Officer by the spokesperson for the Land list concerned and his/her deputy by means of a joint written statement not later than 6 p.m. on the thirty-fourth day before the election.
(2) The Federal Electoral Committee shall decide on the statements under Paragraph (1) above not later than the thirtieth day before the election, Article 28, Paragraph (1) second sentence shall apply mutatis mutandis. The decision shall be made public in the meeting of the Federal Electoral Committee.
(3) Not later than the twenty-sixth day before the election the Federal Returning Officer shall publish the combinations of lists and the Land lists for which a statement has been made under Paragraph (1) above.
(1) The ballot papers, their envelopes and the envelopes for the postal ballot (Article 36, Paragraph (1)) shall be officially manufactured.
(2) The ballot paper shall contain
(3) The order of the Land lists of parties which were represented in the last Bundestag shall be determined by the number of second votes which each obtained at the last Bundestag election in the Land concerned. The remainder of the Land lists shall follow in the alphabetical order of the names of the parties. The order of the constituency nominations shall be the same as the order of the corresponding Land lists. Other constituency nominations shall follow in the alphabetical order of the names of the parties or of the code names.
Polling shall be public. The electoral board may eject from the polling station any persons causing a disturbance.
(1) In and at the entrance to the building in which the polling station is located it shall be forbidden to influence voters in any way by word, sound, writing, or image or by collecting signatures.
(2) The results of opinion polls after votes have been cast may not be published before the expiry of the time prescribed for the election.
(1) Measures shall be taken to ensure that the voter cannot be observed while marking his or her ballot paper and placing it in the envelope. Ballot boxes for the reception of the envelopes must be such that they ensure the preservation of the secrecy of the ballot.
(2) A voter who is illiterate or who is prevented by a physical handicap from marking the ballot paper, from placing it in the envelope, from handing the envelope over to the Electoral Officer or from placing it into the ballot box himself or herself, may be aided by another person.
(1) Votes shall be cast by using official ballot papers in official envelopes.
(2) The voter shall
(1) In order to facilitate the casting and counting of votes, voting machines equipped with independent registers may be used instead of ballot papers, envelopes and ballot boxes.
(2) Voting machines within the meaning of Paragraph (1) above must guarantee the secrecy of voting. They must be officially licensed in their design to be used at elections to the Bundestag for individual elections or on a general scale. The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall decide on the licensing of a voting machine on the application of its manufacturer. The use of an officially licensed voting machine shall be subject to approval by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Such approval may be pronounced in respect of individual elections or with general effect.
(3) The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall be authorized to issue detailed regulations by statutory ordinance not requiring the approval of the Bundesrat (Länder chamber) concerning :
In the cases provided for in Nos. 1 and 3, the statutory ordinance shall be issued in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Economics.
(4) As regards the operation of a voting machine, Article 33, Paragraph (1), first sentence and Paragraph (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(1) If voting by postal ballot, the voter shall send in a sealed postal ballot envelope to the Constituency Returning Officer of the constituency in which his or her polling card was issued :
early enough to ensure that the postal ballot letter will arrive not later than 6 p.m. on election day. Article 33, Paragraph (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(2) On the polling card the voter or assisting person shall give an assurance in lieu of an oath to the Constituency Returning Officer that the ballot paper has been marked either personally or in accordance with the declared intent of the voter. The Constituency Returning Officer shall have competence to administer such an assurance in lieu of an oath ; he shall be deemed to constitute an authority within the meaning of Article 156 of the Penal Code.
(3) In the event of an order by the Land government or by an agency designated by it pursuant to Article 8, Paragraph (3), the place of the Constituency Returning Officer referred in Paragraph (1), first sentence and in Paragraph (2) shall be taken by the local authority that has issued the voting cards or the administrative authority of the county in which the local authority is situated.
(4) Postal ballot letters may be posted as standard mail without any special form of dispatch, free of charge, if contained in official election envelopes. If the sender chooses a special form of dispatch he must pay the amount in excess of the otherwise applicable letter rate. The Federal Government shall pay the postal service department (POSTDIENST) of the Deutsche Bundespost the valid letter rate for every official election envelope forwarded by it, posted unstamped, or sent by special mail.
After the closing of the poll the Electoral Board shall establish how many votes have been cast in the polling district for the individual constituency nominations and Land lists.
The Electoral Board appointed for the postal ballot shall establish how many postal votes have been cast for the individual constituency nominations and Land lists.
(1) Votes shall be invalid if the ballot paper
In the cases mentioned under Nos. 1 to 4, both votes shall be invalid.
(2) Several ballot papers contained in a voting envelope shall be considered to be one ballot paper if their wording is identical or if only one of them has been marked, otherwise they shall count as one ballot paper with two invalid votes.
(3) If the voting envelope has been handed over empty, both votes shall be considered to be invalid. Where only one vote has been cast on the ballot paper, the vote not cast shall be invalid.
(4) If voting is by postal ballot, postal ballot letters shall be rejected if
The senders of postal ballot letters that are rejected shall not be counted as voters ; their votes shall be deemed not to have been cast.
(5) The votes of a voter having taken part in the postal ballot shall not become invalid if he dies before or on election day or is disqualified from voting pursuant to Article 13.
The Electoral Board shall decide on the validity of the votes cast and on any queries and objections arising during the poll and during the counting of votes. The Constituency Electoral Committee shall have a right of verification.
(1) The Constituency Electoral Committee shall establish how many votes have been cast in the constituency for the individual constituency nominations and Land lists, and which candidate has been elected Deputy for the constituency.
(2) The Constituency Returning Officer shall notify the candidate who has been elected Deputy for the Constituency and shall invite him to state in writing within a week whether he accepts the election.
(1) The Land Electoral Committee shall establish how many votes have been cast in the Land for the individual Land lists.
(2) The Federal Electoral Committee shall establish how many seats have been won by the individual Land lists and which candidates have been elected.
(3) The Land Returning Officer shall notify the elected candidates and invite them to state in writing within a week whether they accept the election.
(1) A by-election shall take place
(2) In the event of Paragraph (1), No. 1, the by-election should take place not later than three weeks after the date of the general elections. In the event of Paragraph (1), No. 2, the by-election should take place not later than six weeks after the date of the general elections. The date of the by-election shall be determined by the Land Returning Officer.
(3) The by-election shall be subject to the same regulations and shall take place on the same basis as the general elections.
(1) If an election is declared wholly or partly invalid as a result of the scrutiny proceedings, it shall be repeated as required by the respective decision.
(2) The repeat election shall be subject to the same regulations as the general elections, it shall be held with the same nominations and, provided less than six months have passed since the general elections, on the basis of the same register of voters, unless the decision reached under the scrutiny procedure shall prescribe otherwise with regard to nominations of candidates and registers of voters.
(3) The repeat election must take place not later than sixty days after the decision by which the election was declared invalid has become legally effective. Where the election has been declared only partially invalid, there shall be no repeat election if it is certain that a new Bundestag will be elected within six months. The date of the repeat election shall be determined by the Land Returning Officer or, in the case of a repeat election for the whole electoral area, by the Federal President.
(4) The election results shall be newly established on the basis of the repeat election, in accordance with the regulations laid down in Section VI, Article 41, Paragraph (2) and Article 42, Paragraph (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
An elected candidate shall attain membership of the Bundestag upon receipt by the appropriate Returning Officer of his letter of acceptance within the period and in the form prescribed in Article 41, Paragraph (2) or Article 42, Paragraph (3), but not before the expiration of the period of legislature of the last Bundestag and, in the case of Article 44, Paragraph (4), not before the withdrawal of the member elected as a result of the original election. If the elected candidate fails to send or does not in due form send a letter of acceptance before the expiration of the legally prescribed period, the election shall be considered accepted as at the time of expiration. An acceptance under reserve shall count as a refusal. Statements of acceptance and refusal shall be irrevocable.
(1) A deputy shall lose his or her membership of the Bundestag
Any grounds for loss of membership as may be laid down in other statutory provisions shall not be affected.
(2) A deputy whose election in the constituency is invalid shall nevertheless retain his or her membership of the Bundestag if he or she was at the same time elected on a Land list but was disregarded pursuant to Article 6, Paragraph (4), third sentence.
(3) Resignation shall only be effective if it is declared in writing to the President of the Bundestag, to a German notary having his seat within the area of application of this Law, or to a member of a German mission abroad who is authorized to authenticate documents. The deputy shall be required to transmit to the President of the Bundestag the declaration of resignation attested by a notary or presented to a mission abroad. The resignation shall be irrevocable.
(4) If a party or section of a party is declared unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in accordance with Article 21, Paragraph (2), second sentence of the Basic Law, the deputies shall lose their membership of the Bundestag, and their successors on the list shall lose their candidacy, if they have been members of that party or party section during the period between the filing of the application (Article 43 of the Law on the Federal Constitutional Court) and the pronouncement of the decision (Article 46 of the Law on the Federal Constitutional Court). To the extent that deputies having lost their membership in accordance with the first sentence above were elected in constituencies, the election of a constituency deputy shall be repeated in such constituencies, Article 44, Paragraphs (2) to (4) being applied mutatis mutandis ; in these cases the deputies who have lost their membership in accordance with the first sentence above shall not be allowed to appear as candidates. If deputies having lost their membership in accordance with the first sentence above were elected on the basis of a Land list of the party or section of a party declared unconstitutional, their seats shall remain vacant. Otherwise, Article 48, Paragraph (1) shall be applicable.
(1) A decision on loss of membership under Article 46, Paragraph (1) shall be made
(2) If a decision on the loss of membership is made under the scrutiny procedure, the deputy concerned shall withdraw from the Bundestag as soon as the decision shall become legally effective.
(3) If the Council of Senior Members or the President of the Bundestag decides on the loss of membership, the deputy concerned shall withdraw from the Bundestag as soon as the decision has been taken. The decision shall be taken ex officio without delay. Within two weeks after the decision has been served upon him or her, the deputy concerned may apply for a decision on the loss of membership to be taken by the Bundestag under the scrutiny procedure. Such decision shall be served upon the applicant in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Serving of Documents in Administrative Procedure.
(1) If an elected candidate dies or refuses to accept election, or if a member dies or subsequently withdraws from the Bundestag for any other reason, the vacant seat shall be filled by an appointment from the Land list of that party for which the departed member stood at the election. In the selection of the successor those candidates on the list who have subsequently to the drawing up of the Land list resigned from the party concerned shall not be taken into consideration. If the list is exhausted, the seat shall remain vacant. The decision as to which candidate from the list is to succeed to the seat shall be taken by the Land Returning Officer. Article 42, Paragraph (3) and Article 45 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(2) If the departed member has been elected as the constituency member for a group of voters or a party which had not been allowed to submit a Land list in the Land, a replacement election shall be held in the constituency. The replacement election must be held not later than sixty days after the seat has become vacant. There shall be no replacement election if it is certain that a new Bundestag will be elected within six months. The replacement election shall be conducted according to the general regulations. The election date shall be determined by the Land Returning Officer. Article 41, Paragraph (2) and Article 45 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Any decisions and measures directly affecting the electoral procedure may only be contested by means of the legal remedies provided by this Law and the Federal Election Regulations and by way of the scrutiny procedure.
(1) Any person who
(2) A regulatory offence pursuant to Paragraph (1), No. 1 may carry a fine of up to DM 1,000. A regulatory offence pursuant to Paragraph (1), No. 2 may carry a fine of up to DM 100,000.
(3) The administrative authority within the meaning of Article 36, Paragraph (1), No. 1 of the Law on Regulatory Offences is
(1) Candidates for a constituency nomination, submitted pursuant to Articles 18 and 20 by persons entitled to vote, who receive at least 10 per cent of the valid votes cast in a constituency shall receive DM 4.00 per valid vote cast. Provision is to be made in the Federal Budget for these funds.
(2) The candidate shall apply in writing for assessment and payment of the government funds to the President of the German Bundestag within two months of the first meeting of the German Bundestag; any applications received after this period shall not be considered. The sum shall be assessed and paid by the President of the German Bundestag.
(3) The provisions of the Party Law on the absolute and relative upper limit shall not apply.
(1) The Federation shall reimburse the Länder for their own and their municipalities' (municipality associations') necessary expenditure arising from the election by the payment of a fixed amount for each person entitled to vote which shall be determined in relation to the size of each commune.
(2) The fixed amount shall be determined by the Federal Ministry of the Interior with the consent of the Bundesrat. In determining the amount, current staff and material costs and costs for the use of premises and facilities belonging to the Länder and municipalities (municipality associations) shall not be taken into consideration.
(1) The results of the German Federal Parliamentary Elections shall be statistically analysed.
(2) In polling districts to be selected by the Federal Returning Officer in consultation with the Land Returning Officers and the Land Statistical Offices, statistics shall also be worked out on the sex and age of the persons entitled to vote and of the voters taking into consideration the votes cast for the individual nominations. The division of the poll according to age-group and sex shall only be admissible if the secrecy of each vote cast is fully preserved.
(1) The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall issue the Federal Election Regulations necessary for the implementation of this Law. It shall in particular include therein statutory provisions regarding
(2) The statutory provisions shall not require the consent of the Bundesrat,
(3) The Federal Ministry of the Interior is authorized, in the event that the Bundestag is dissolved, to shorten the periods prescribed in the Federal Electoral Law and in the Federal Election Regulations by means of an ordinance without the consent of the Federal Council.
Article 3, Paragraph (4) applies accordingly for changes in Land boundaries which are undertaken pursuant to Article 2, Paragraphs (2) and (3) of the Länder Establishing Act of 22 July 1990 (Federal Law Gazette 1, No. 51, p. 955).
The time limits and dates provided for in this Law may not be extended or changed on account of the fact that the last day of the period in question or a particular date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, a statutory or state-protected public holiday. A reversal to the previous state shall be precluded.
...
________
In 1998 the legislator plans to amend this
provision to 25 years. At the time of publication the law had not yet been
adopted.
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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.