Elections in Germany

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The following information deals with elections in Germany, including elections to the Bundestag (the lower house of the federal parliament), the Landtags of the various states, and local elections.

[edit] German elections since 1949

[edit] Federal Republic of Germany

[edit] Election system

The German political system

Germany elects on federal level a legislature. The parliament has one chamber—the Bundestag (or Federal Diet); the Bundesrat, or Federal Council, represents the regions and is not considered a chamber as its members are not elected. The Bundestag nominally has 598 members, elected for a four year term. Half, 299 members, are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting, while a further 299 members are allocated from statewide party lists to achieve a proportional distribution in the legislature, conducted according to a form of proportional representation called the Mixed member proportional representation system (MMP). Voters vote once for a constituency representative, and a second time for a party, and the lists are used to make the party balances match the distribution of second votes. In the most recent election there were 24 overhang seats, giving a total of 622 seats. This is caused by larger parties winning additional single-member constituencies above the totals determined by their proportional party vote.

Germany has a multi-party system with two strong parties and some other third parties also represented in the Bundestag. Since 1990, five parties (counting the CDU and CSU as one) have been represented in the Bundestag.

Elections are conducted approximately every four years, resulting from the constitutional requirement for elections to be held 46 to 48 months after the assembly of the Bundestag.^[1] The exact date of the election is chosen by the President^[2] and must be a Sunday or public holiday. Should the Bundestag be dismissed before the four year period has ended, elections must be held within 60 days.

German nationals over the age of 18 who have resided in Germany for at least three months are eligible to vote. Eligibility for candidacy is essentially the same.

[edit] Latest election results

In July 2008, the Constitutional Court decided that the practice of calculating the relative proportion for the MMP seats was wrong. The verdict means that the number of constituency seats won will no longer be used in allotting party-list seats. This will result in few overhang seats and increase the importance of the party-list vote.^[3]

[edit] List of federal election results

German parliamentary election results

Voter turnout in German federal elections (percentage)

17th German federal election, 2009
16th German federal election, 2005
15th German federal election, 2002
14th German federal election, 1998
13th German federal election, 1994
12th German federal election, 1990 (1st of the re-united Germany)
11th German federal election, 1987
10th German federal election, 1983
9th German federal election, 1980
8th German federal election, 1976
7th German federal election, 1972
6th German federal election, 1969
5th German federal election, 1965
4th German federal election, 1961
3rd German federal election, 1957
2nd German federal election, 1953
1st German federal election, 1949

[edit] State elections in the Federal Republic of Germany

State elections are conducted under various rules set by the Länder (states). In general they are conducted according to some form of party-list proportional representation, either the same as the federal system or some simplified version. The election period is generally four to five years, and the dates of elections vary from state to state.

[edit] Baden-Württemberg state election results

[edit] Bavaria state election results

[edit] Berlin state election results

[edit] Brandenburg state election results

[edit] Bremen state election results

[edit] Hamburg state election results

Main article: Elections in Hamburg

[edit] Hesse state election results

[edit] Lower Saxony state election results

[edit] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election results

[edit] North Rhine-Westphalia state election results

[edit] Rhineland-Palatinate state election results

[edit] Saarland state election results

[edit] Saxony state election results

[edit] Saxony-Anhalt state election results

[edit] Schleswig-Holstein state election results

[edit] Thuringia state election results

[edit] German Democratic Republic

See: Politics of East Germany

In the German Democratic Republic, elections to the Volkskammer were effectively controlled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and state hierarchy, even though multiple parties existed pro forma. The 18 March 1990 election were the first free ones held in the GDR, producing a government whose major mandate was to negotiate an end to itself and its state.

[edit] German elections 1871 to 1945

From the unification of Germany under Emperor Wilhelm I in 1871 to the Nazi accession to power and the abolition of elections following the Enabling Act of 1933, elections were held to the German Reichstag or "Imperial Assembly", which supplanted its namesake, the Reichstag of the Norddeutscher Bund. The Reichstag could be dissolved by the Kaiser or, after the abdication of Wilhelm II in 1918, the Reichspräsident. With the Weimar Republic's Constitution of 1919, the voting system changed from single-member constituencies to proportional representation. The election age was reduced to 20 years of age. Women's suffrage had already been established by a new electoral law in 1918 following the November Revolution of that year.

The German election in 1933 was the ninth and last (mostly) free election. In the Third Reich, several elections were conducted leading to unanimous support of the Nazi Party because other parties were dissolved or banned.

[edit] Elections in Nazi Germany (formally under the Weimar Constitution)

[edit] Weimar Republic elections

[edit] Imperial elections

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

Kitschelt, Herbert (October 2003). "Political-economic context and partisan strategies in the German federal elections, 1990-2002". West European Politics 26 (4): 125–152. doi:10.1080/01402380312331280718.
Manow, Philip (January 2007). "Electoral rules and legislative turnover: Evidence from Germany's mixed electoral system". West European Politics 30 (1): 195–207. doi:10.1080/01402380601019852.

[edit] References

^ "Art. 39 Grundgesetz". Grundgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bundesministerium der Justiz. 19 March 2009. http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg/art_39.html. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
^ "§16 Bundeswahlgesetz". Bundeswahlgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bundesministerium der Justiz. 3 June 2008. http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bwahlg/__16.html. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
^ "Regelungen des Bundeswahlgesetzes, aus denen sich Effekt des negativen Stimmgewichts ergibt, verfassungswidrig" (in German). Bundesverfassungsgericht. http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg08-068.html. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

[edit] External links

Adam Carr's Election Archive
Parties and elections
Latest polling results for state and federal elections (in German)
Official Site of "Bundeswahlleiter"
Collection of German Election Posters of Weimar Republic and Federal Republic
NSD: European Election Database – Germany publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990–2009

[0] "Art. 39 Grundgesetz". Grundgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bundesministerium der Justiz. 19 March 2009. http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg/art_39.html. Retrieved 5 June 2009.

[1] "§16 Bundeswahlgesetz". Bundeswahlgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bundesministerium der Justiz. 3 June 2008. http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bwahlg/__16.html. Retrieved 5 June 2009.

[2] "Regelungen des Bundeswahlgesetzes, aus denen sich Effekt des negativen Stimmgewichts ergibt, verfassungswidrig" (in German). Bundesverfassungsgericht. http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg08-068.html. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

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