Elections in Germany

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Elections in Germany gives information on election and election results in Germany, including elections to the Federal Diet (the lower house of the federal parliament), the Landtage of the various states, and local elections.

1 German elections since 1949
2 German elections 1871 to 1945
3 See also
4 External links

Political System

Germany elects on federal level a legislature. The parliament has two chambers. The Federal Diet (Bundestag) nominally has 598 members, elected for a four year term, 299 members elected in single-seat constituencies according to first-past-the-post, while a further 299 members are allocated from statewide party lists to achieve a proportional distribution in the legislature, conducted according to a system of proportional representation called the additional member system. 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 current parliament there are 16 overhang seats, giving a total of 614. This is caused by larger parties winning additional single-member districts above the totals determined by their proportional party vote.

Germany has a multi-party system, with two strong parties and some other third parties that are electorally successful.

Elections are conducted every 4 years, with the exact date of the election chosen by the outgoing government. The Bundestag can be dismissed and a new election called before the four year period has ended, but this usually only occurs in the case of a government losing its majority.

German nationals over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, including most Germans resident outside Germany, and eligibility for candidacy is essentially the same as eligibility to vote.

The Federal Council (Bundesrat) has 69 members representing the governments of the states.

Main article: German federal election, 2005

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 18 September 2005 German Federal Diet *(Bundestag)* election results**
Parties		Constituency					Party list					Total seats
Parties		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Total	+/−	%
	Christian Democratic Union ) (Christlich-Demokratische Union*)	15,390,950	32.6	+0.6	106	+24	13,136,740	27.8	-1.7	74	-34	180	-10	29.3
	Christian Social Union of Bavaria ) (Christlich Soziale Union in Bayern*)	3,889,990	8.2	-0.8	44	+1	3,494,309	7.4	-1.6	2	-13	46	-12	7.5
CDU/CSU		19,280,940	40.8	-0.2	150	+25	16,631,049	35.2	-3.3	76	-47	226	-22	36.8
	Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands)	18,129,100	38.4	-3.5	145	-26	16,194,665	34.2	-4.3	77	-3	222	-29	36.2
	Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei)	2,208,531	4.7	+1.1	0	0	4,648,144	9.8	+2.5	61	+14	61	+14	9.9
	The Left Party.PDS (Die Linkspartei.PDS)	3,764,168	8.0	+3.6	3	+1	4,118,194	8.7	+4.7	51	+51	54	+52	8.8
	Alliance '90/The Greens (Bündnis '90/Die Grünen)	2,538,913	5.4	-0.2	1	0	3,838,326	8.1	-0.5	50	-4	51	-4	8.3
	Other	1,272,410	2.7	–	0	0	1,857,610	4.0	–	0	0	0	0	–
	Totals	47,194,062	100	–	299	–	47,287,988	100	–	315	+11	614	+11	100

The Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union of Bavaria call themselves "sister-parties". They do not operate in the same regions and form one group in the Bundestag.

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

State elections are conducted under various rules set by the Länder. In general they are conducted according to some form of party list proportional repesentation, 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.

Saxony state election, 2004

Thuringia state election, 2004

See: Politics of East Germany

In the German Democratic Republic, elections between multiple parties to the Volkskammer took place, but were effectively controlled by the SED/state hierarchy, even if multiple parties existed pro forma. On 18 March 1990 the first and only free elections in the history of the GDR were held, producing a government whose major mandate was to negotiate an end to itself and its state.

From the unification of Germany under Emperor Wilhelm I in 1871 to the Nazi accession to power and the abolishment 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, and after the abdication of Wilhelm II in 1918 by the Reichspräsident. With the Weimar constitution of 1919, the voting system changed from single-member constituencies to proportional representation. Election age was reduced to 20 years. Women's suffrage had already been established by a new electoral law in 1918, following the November revolution of that year.

See: Nazi Germany

The 9th German election in 1933 was the last free election. In the Third Reich, several elections were conducted, leading to unanimous support of the NSDAP and their politicians, because other parties were dissolved or banned.

See: Weimar Republic