Elections in Germany

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of
Germany
Constitution (Basic Law)
Head of State
Executive
  • Chancellor of Germany (list
    )
Legislature
Judiciary
  • Federal courts
Subdivisions
Elections
  • Presidential elections
  • Parliamentary election
  • European elections
State and local politics
  • State Politics
Foreign relations

  • Foreign relations by country
  • International Relations
Political ideologies

Several articles in several parts of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany govern elections and establish constitutional requirements such as the secret ballot, and the requirement that all elections be conducted in a free and fair manner. The Basic Law also requires that the federal legislature enact detailed federal laws to govern elections; electoral law(s). One such article is Article 38, regarding the election of deputies in the federal Bundestag. Article 38.2 of the Basic Law establishes universal suffrage: "Any person who has attained the age of eighteen shall be entitled to vote; any person who has attained the age of majority may be elected."

German federal elections are for all members of the Bundestag, which in turn determines who is the chancellor of Germany. The most recent federal election was held on 23 February 2025.

Result in history

1919 German federal election

PartyVotes%Seats
Social Democratic Party of Germany11,509,04837.86163
Centre Party (Germany)5,980,21619.6791
German Democratic Party5,641,82518.5675
German National People's Party3,121,47910.2744
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany2,317,2907.6222
German People's Party1,345,6384.4319
Bavarian Peasants' League275,1250.914
German-Hanoverian Party77,2260.251
Schleswig-Holstein Farmers and Farmworkers Democracy57,9130.191
Brunswick State Electoral Association56,8580.191
Mecklenburg Village League10,8910.040
German Peace Party3,5030.010
German Officials', Employees' and Middle Class Party1,4380.000
Christian Social Party (Germany)6640.000
Middle Class Party6400.000
German Social Aristocracy2790.000
Democratic Middle Class Party2080.000
Social Reform Party450.000
Total30,400,286100.00421

November 1933 German parliamentary election

PartyVotes%Seats
Nazi Party39,655,22492.11661
Against3,398,2497.890
Total43,053,473100.00661

1949 West German federal election

PartyVotes%Seats
Social Democratic Party of Germany6,934,97529.22131
Christian Democratic Union of Germany5,978,63625.19115
Free Democratic Party (Germany)2,829,92011.9252
Christian Social Union in Bavaria1,380,4485.8224
Communist Party of Germany1,361,7065.7415
Bavaria Party986,4784.1617
German Party (1947)939,9343.9617
Centre Party (Germany, 1945)727,5053.0710
Economic Reconstruction Union681,8882.8712
Deutsche Rechtspartei429,0311.815
Radical Social Freedom Party216,7490.910
South Schleswig Voters' Association75,3880.321
European People's Movement of Germany26,1620.110
Rheinish-Westfalian People's Party21,9310.090
Independents1,141,6474.813
Total23,732,398100.00402

1949 East German Constitutional Assembly election

Party or allianceVotes%Seats
Democratic Bloc (East Germany)Socialist Unity Party of Germany7,943,94966.07450
Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)225
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany225
Cooperatives100
Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany75
National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)75
Democratic Women's League of Germany50
Free German Trade Union Federation50
Free German Youth50
Cultural Association of the GDR50
Peasants Mutual Aid Association50
Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime50
Social Democratic Party of Germany25
Independents50
Against4,080,27233.930
Total12,024,221100.001,525

Latest election

PartyParty listConstituencyTotal
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Christian Democratic Union of Germany11,196,37422.553612,604,18425.46128164
Alternative for Germany10,328,78020.8011010,177,31820.5642152
Social Democratic Party of Germany8,149,12416.41769,936,43320.0744120
Alliance 90/The Greens5,762,38011.61735,443,39311.001285
The Left (Germany)4,356,5328.77583,933,2977.95664
Christian Social Union in Bavaria2,964,0285.9703,272,0646.614444
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance2,472,9474.980299,4010.6000
Free Democratic Party (Germany)2,148,7574.3301,622,9123.2800
Free Voters769,2791.5501,254,5652.5300
Human Environment Animal Protection Party482,2010.97082,4980.1700
Volt Germany355,2620.720391,6660.7900
Die PARTEI242,7410.490122,2680.2500
Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany85,3730.17041,9230.0800
Bündnis Deutschland76,3720.15087,9550.1800
South Schleswig Voters' Association76,1380.15158,7790.1201
Ecological Democratic Party49,7640.10054,6060.1100
Team Todenhöfer24,5530.0509,7830.0200
Party of Progress (Germany)21,3880.0401,2820.0000
Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany19,5510.04024,2180.0500
Party of Humanists14,2940.0301,8710.0000
Pirate Party Germany13,8000.0302,1510.0000
Bavaria Party12,2780.0205,7630.0100
Alliance C – Christians for Germany11,7680.0202,0210.0000
MERA256,9940.0106580.0000
Values Union6,7360.0102,8490.0100
Human World (political party)6940.00000.0000
Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität6760.0001,2950.0000
Socialist Equality Party (Germany)4250.000730.0000
Party for Rejuvenation Research3030.00000.0000
Independents00.00070,1630.1400
Total49,649,512100.0035449,505,389100.00276630

German elections from 1871 to 1945

German parliamentary elections, 1920–1933

After the

November Revolution
of that year.

Following the

centre-right Catholics.[2] On 27 February, just prior to the election, the Reichstag Fire Decree suspended freedom of the press and most civil liberties. Mass arrests followed, including all Communist and several Social Democrat delegates to the Reichstag. 50000 members of the Hilfspolizei (auxiliary Nazi police) "monitored" polling places on election day to further intimidate voters.[3] While the Nazi Party performed better than it had in the elections of November 1932, it still won only 33% of the vote. By placing their rivals in jail and intimidating others not to take their seats, the Nazis went from a plurality to the majority. Just two weeks after the election, the Enabling Act of 1933
effectively gave Hitler dictatorial power. Three more elections were held in Nazi Germany before the war. They all took the form of a one-question referendum, asking voters to approve a predetermined list of candidates composed exclusively of Nazis and nominally independent "guests" of the party.

Imperial elections

Weimar Republic federal elections

Elections in Nazi Germany

German elections since 1949

Federal Republic of Germany

Election system

Main article: Electoral system of Germany
The German political system

Federal elections (so called „Bundestagswahlen“) 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.[4] Elections can be held earlier in exceptional constitutional circumstances: for example, were the Chancellor to lose a vote of confidence in the Bundestag, then, during a grace period before the Bundestag can vote in a replacement Chancellor, the Chancellor could request the Federal President to dissolve the Bundestag and hold elections. Should the Bundestag be dismissed before the four-year period has ended, elections must be held within 100 days. The exact date of the election is chosen by the President[5] and must be a Sunday or public holiday.

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.

The federal

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. Overhang seats may add to the nominal number of 598 members: for example, in the 2009 federal 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

political parties
and some other third parties also represented in the Bundestag. Since 1990, and including the results of the most recent federal election in 2021, just six main political parties have managed to secure representation in the Bundestag (counting the CDU and CSU as one, and excluding recognised minority group parties such as the SSW which are exempted in federal law from the 5% threshold that is normally required to be breached in order to win party-list seats).

In 2008, some modifications to the electoral system were required under an order of the

Federal Constitutional Court. The court had found that a provision in the Federal Election Law made it possible for a party to experience a negative vote weight, thus losing seats due to more votes, and found that this violated the constitutional guarantee of the electoral system being equal and direct.[6]

The court allowed three years to amend the law. Accordingly, the 2009 federal election was allowed to proceed under the previous system. The changes were due by 30 June 2011, but appropriate legislation was not completed by that deadline. A new electoral law was enacted in late 2011, but declared unconstitutional once again by the Federal Constitutional Court upon lawsuits from the opposition parties and a group of some 4,000 private citizens.[7]

Finally, four of the five factions in the Bundestag agreed on an electoral reform whereby the number of seats in the Bundestag will be increased as much as necessary to ensure that any overhang seats are compensated through apportioned leveling seats, to ensure full proportionality according to the political party's share of party votes at the national level.[8] The Bundestag approved and enacted the new electoral reform in February 2013.[9]

List of federal election results

German parliamentary election results
Voter turnout in German federal elections (percentage)
  • 1949
    1949
  • 1953
    1953
  • 1957
    1957
  • 1961
    1961
  • 1965
    1965
  • 1969
    1969
  • 1972
    1972
  • 1976
    1976
  • 1980
    1980
  • 1983
    1983
  • 1987
    1987
  • 1990
    1990
  • 1994
    1994
  • 1998
    1998
  • 2002
    2002
  • 2005
    2005
  • 2009
    2009
  • 2013
    2013
  • 2017
    2017
  • 2021
    2021

European elections

Every 5 years, Germany, as a founding member of the European Union, votes to select their delegates to the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected through a proportional party list system, which, unlike federal elections, do not require a minimum threshold to win seats or constituency seats. The voting age is set at 16.[10]

  • 2009
    2009
  • 2014
    2014
  • 2019
    2019
  • 2024
    2024

Presidential elections

Germans do not directly vote for their President. Instead the President is elected every 5 years by the Federal Convention. All members of Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates elected by the state or 'Länder' parliaments specifically for this purpose, proportional to their population, comprise the voters of the convention.[11]

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.

Baden-Württemberg state election results

Bavaria state election results

Berlin state election results

Brandenburg state election results

Bremen state election results

Hamburg state election results

Main article: Elections in Hamburg

Hessian state election results

Lower Saxony state election results

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election results

North Rhine-Westphalia state election results

Rhineland-Palatinate state election results

Saarland state election results

Saxony state election results

Saxony-Anhalt state election results

Schleswig-Holstein state election results

Thuringia state election results

German Democratic Republic

Main article: Politics of East Germany

In the

German Democratic Republic, elections to the Volkskammer were effectively controlled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and state hierarchy, even though multiple pro forma parties existed. 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.[citation needed
]

Prior to the

free elections. Polling places were under surveillance by the state security apparatuses and the ruling party, the SED, presented voters with a slate of proposed candidates. Voters could optionally enter a booth to strike any candidates the voter did not want; a voter who agreed with the SED's full list simply folded the unmarked ballot in half and placed it into the ballot box. Entering a voting booth was considered suspicious and was noted by the state security apparatuses, which could lead to consequences later for the voter. East German voters commonly referred to the act of voting as "folding" (German: falten). Election outcomes prior to 1990 commonly saw 99% of voters in favor of the suggested slate of candidates. On top of this, the government engaged in electoral fraud and commonly falsified both results and voter turnout percentages, even as late as the May 1989 municipal elections.[12][13]

Local elections

See Local elections in Germany [de]

Local elections in Germany (German: Kommunalwahlen) include elections for most regional and local subdivisions, unless their representatives are appointed or elected by another assembly or office. Such local elections are conducted for representatives in districts, cities, towns, villages and various other administrative regional organizations. In cities and towns local elections usually include voting for a lord mayor or mayor. Smaller villages and settlements may elect a representative (German: Ortsvorsteher) with limited administrative power. Local elections are also often combined with polls about important local matters and questions of general public interest (i.e. the construction of local roads or other infrastructure facilities). While such polls are not legally binding in most cases, their results have considerable influence on local political decisions.[citation needed]

After the

German states adapted their regulations between 1995 and 1998.[citation needed
]

See also

References

  1. ^ Peter Marschalck: Bevölkerungsgeschichte Deutschlands im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Frankfurt am Main 1984, S. 173.
  2. ^ Evans, Richard J., The Coming of the Third Reich, Penguin Press, New York, 2004.
  3. ^ von Götz, Irene. "Violence Unleashed". Berlin.de. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Art. 39 Grundgesetz". Grundgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bundesministerium der Justiz. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  5. ^ "§16 Bundeswahlgesetz". Bundeswahlgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bundesministerium der Justiz. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  6. ^ "Federal Constitutional Court decision on the Federal Election Law". Bverfg.de. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  7. ^ Decision of the Federal Constitutional Court. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  8. ^ Bill amending the Federal Election Law. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  9. ISSN 0044-2070
    . Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Elections to the European Parliament". Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  11. ^ "Election of the Federal President". Der Bundespräsident. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  12. ISBN 9783593394893
  13. ISBN 9783486523638
    .

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elections_in_Germany&oldid=1284027641"