How Germany’s Election System Works: What to Watch for Sept. 27
By Leon Mangasarian
-- Voters in the Federal Republic of Germany -- created in 1949 after World War II -- elect members of the 17th Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, on Sept. 27.
How many people can cast ballots?
Out of Germany’s population of about 82 million, 62.2 million are eligible to vote. Of these, about 3.5 million will be voting for the first time. Voting rights are given from the age of 18. The biggest single age group voting is aged 40 to 49, making up 20.6 percent of the electorate. Voting takes place in schools and other public buildings. In the last election in 2005 about 9 million people cast postal votes. Turnout then was 77.7 percent.
Which German state has the most voters?
The western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with 13.5 million, followed by Bavaria in the southeast with 9.3 million.
What are people voting for?
Voters don’t directly elect the chancellor. Instead, they elect members of the lower house, who in turn choose the head of government. Nor do voters pick members of the Bundesrat, or upper house, to which the governments of the 16 federal states send representatives. Two states -- Schleswig-Holstein and Brandenburg -- are also electing regional parliaments on Sept. 27. Germany’s mainly ceremonial federal president is also not chosen by popular vote. He or she is elected every five years by a special assembly comprising members of the Bundestag and the states. The post is currently held by Horst Koehler.
Why do German voters each get two votes?
This is to allow each voter to cast one ballot to directly elect a Bundestag member in an individual district and another to vote for a party.
How many seats are at stake in the Bundestag?
The German parliament’s lower chamber has at least 598 members. Under Germany’s mixed proportional and direct electoral system, 299 members are directly elected in their districts and the other 299 members enter parliament via party lists through proportional representation.
What’s the 5 percent hurdle?
Under Germany’s proportional representation system a party that wins at least 5 percent of the vote gets seats in the Bundestag -- even if it fails to win any directly contested seats. This aspect of the German political system was put in place to give representation to smaller parties and has been crucial for the pro-business Free Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party, heirs to the East German communists.
Why does the size of the German parliament vary after each election?
This is because of “overhang” parliamentary seats. These extra seats are created if a party wins more directly elected seats in one of the 16 federal states than it would get under the proportional share-out from the second ballots cast by voters. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic bloc won seven overhang seats in the last election in 2005 and the Social Democratic Party of her challenger, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, won nine. Electoral analysis Web site election.de says as many as 17 overhang seats may be created in the Sept. 27 vote, with 12 going to Merkel’s party.
How can a chancellor get elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote?
Thanks to the extra seats created by overhang mandates, and because parties that take less that 5 percent of the national vote don’t qualify for the proportional share-out of seats, a chancellor’s coalition parties can win less than 50 percent of the vote yet still clinch a majority in the Bundestag. That means Merkel’s Christian Democratic alliance and her preferred partner, the Free Democrats, might still gain a majority even if they only win 48 percent nationwide.
What does it take to win?
If there are no overhang seats and the Bundestag has 598 members then the “chancellor majority” needed to elect a new head of government is 300 seats. If there are overhang seats it’s one vote more than half the seats in the chamber. This differs from the simple majority of those present in the chamber needed to pass bills. In the past, lawmakers on stretchers have been brought into the Reichstag building that houses the Bundestag for crucial votes.
When can we expect the result on election day?
Polls open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Public television stations ARD and ZDF will release exit poll results at exactly 6 p.m. From about 6:15 p.m. the networks start releasing election projections based on partially counted ballots. Unless the vote is very close, television networks should call the winners by 7 p.m. If the election is tight, then the final result may take far longer -- especially if it depends on the distribution of overhang seats. The “final preliminary” result is usually available about midnight with the final certified result, which rarely changes from the preliminary result, available a few weeks after election day.
Will the results be “Twittered”?
Publication of exit poll results before voting stations close at 6 p.m. can lead to fines of 50,000 euros ($74,000), according to German law. Twitter will be monitored by federal agencies on Sept. 27 after leaked exit polls appeared on Twitter during voting hours of state elections on Aug. 30.
What is the “Elephant Round”?
Just hours after polls close on Sept. 27, the leaders of all the major parties take part in what is dubbed the “Elephant Round” -- a joint TV interview that’s scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. By this time the losers have usually conceded defeat, though after the 2005 election, incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder insisted that it was Merkel who had lost, drawing expressions of incredulity from others taking party, including Free Democrat leader Guido Westerwelle. Schroeder joked at a Social Democrat election rally in Bielefeld on Sept. 22 that whatever happens in this election, nobody will beat his “cult” performance in the last Elephant Round.
What happens after election day?
Party leaders will meet on Sept. 28 to decide how they’ll proceed with coalition talks.
How long will it take for the new government to be set up?
Coalitions are the rule in Germany -- Merkel’s current government has three parties -- and it generally takes four to eight weeks to negotiate a coalition accord after elections. Once the coalition agreement has been signed, parliament meets for its first session to elect the chancellor.
How long is the chancellor’s term?
The Bundestag and chancellor are elected for four years, meaning that the next German election would be in 2013.
-- Voters in the Federal Republic of Germany -- created in 1949 after World War II -- elect members of the 17th Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, on Sept. 27.
How many people can cast ballots?
Out of Germany’s population of about 82 million, 62.2 million are eligible to vote. Of these, about 3.5 million will be voting for the first time. Voting rights are given from the age of 18. The biggest single age group voting is aged 40 to 49, making up 20.6 percent of the electorate. Voting takes place in schools and other public buildings. In the last election in 2005 about 9 million people cast postal votes. Turnout then was 77.7 percent.
Which German state has the most voters?
The western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with 13.5 million, followed by Bavaria in the southeast with 9.3 million.
What are people voting for?
Voters don’t directly elect the chancellor. Instead, they elect members of the lower house, who in turn choose the head of government. Nor do voters pick members of the Bundesrat, or upper house, to which the governments of the 16 federal states send representatives. Two states -- Schleswig-Holstein and Brandenburg -- are also electing regional parliaments on Sept. 27. Germany’s mainly ceremonial federal president is also not chosen by popular vote. He or she is elected every five years by a special assembly comprising members of the Bundestag and the states. The post is currently held by Horst Koehler.
Why do German voters each get two votes?
This is to allow each voter to cast one ballot to directly elect a Bundestag member in an individual district and another to vote for a party.
How many seats are at stake in the Bundestag?
The German parliament’s lower chamber has at least 598 members. Under Germany’s mixed proportional and direct electoral system, 299 members are directly elected in their districts and the other 299 members enter parliament via party lists through proportional representation.
What’s the 5 percent hurdle?
Under Germany’s proportional representation system a party that wins at least 5 percent of the vote gets seats in the Bundestag -- even if it fails to win any directly contested seats. This aspect of the German political system was put in place to give representation to smaller parties and has been crucial for the pro-business Free Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party, heirs to the East German communists.
Why does the size of the German parliament vary after each election?
This is because of “overhang” parliamentary seats. These extra seats are created if a party wins more directly elected seats in one of the 16 federal states than it would get under the proportional share-out from the second ballots cast by voters. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic bloc won seven overhang seats in the last election in 2005 and the Social Democratic Party of her challenger, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, won nine. Electoral analysis Web site election.de says as many as 17 overhang seats may be created in the Sept. 27 vote, with 12 going to Merkel’s party.
How can a chancellor get elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote?
Thanks to the extra seats created by overhang mandates, and because parties that take less that 5 percent of the national vote don’t qualify for the proportional share-out of seats, a chancellor’s coalition parties can win less than 50 percent of the vote yet still clinch a majority in the Bundestag. That means Merkel’s Christian Democratic alliance and her preferred partner, the Free Democrats, might still gain a majority even if they only win 48 percent nationwide.
What does it take to win?
If there are no overhang seats and the Bundestag has 598 members then the “chancellor majority” needed to elect a new head of government is 300 seats. If there are overhang seats it’s one vote more than half the seats in the chamber. This differs from the simple majority of those present in the chamber needed to pass bills. In the past, lawmakers on stretchers have been brought into the Reichstag building that houses the Bundestag for crucial votes.
When can we expect the result on election day?
Polls open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Public television stations ARD and ZDF will release exit poll results at exactly 6 p.m. From about 6:15 p.m. the networks start releasing election projections based on partially counted ballots. Unless the vote is very close, television networks should call the winners by 7 p.m. If the election is tight, then the final result may take far longer -- especially if it depends on the distribution of overhang seats. The “final preliminary” result is usually available about midnight with the final certified result, which rarely changes from the preliminary result, available a few weeks after election day.
Will the results be “Twittered”?
Publication of exit poll results before voting stations close at 6 p.m. can lead to fines of 50,000 euros ($74,000), according to German law. Twitter will be monitored by federal agencies on Sept. 27 after leaked exit polls appeared on Twitter during voting hours of state elections on Aug. 30.
What is the “Elephant Round”?
Just hours after polls close on Sept. 27, the leaders of all the major parties take part in what is dubbed the “Elephant Round” -- a joint TV interview that’s scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. By this time the losers have usually conceded defeat, though after the 2005 election, incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder insisted that it was Merkel who had lost, drawing expressions of incredulity from others taking party, including Free Democrat leader Guido Westerwelle. Schroeder joked at a Social Democrat election rally in Bielefeld on Sept. 22 that whatever happens in this election, nobody will beat his “cult” performance in the last Elephant Round.
What happens after election day?
Party leaders will meet on Sept. 28 to decide how they’ll proceed with coalition talks.
How long will it take for the new government to be set up?
Coalitions are the rule in Germany -- Merkel’s current government has three parties -- and it generally takes four to eight weeks to negotiate a coalition accord after elections. Once the coalition agreement has been signed, parliament meets for its first session to elect the chancellor.
How long is the chancellor’s term?
The Bundestag and chancellor are elected for four years, meaning that the next German election would be in 2013.
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