| Parliament name |
- |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Deutscher Bundestag / Federal Diet |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Bundesrat / Federal Council
|
| LEGAL FRAMEWORK |
| Electoral Law |
8 October 1990
Last amendment: 20.04.1998 |
| Mode of designation |
Directly elected 598
Other 14 |
| Constituencies |
- 299 single-member constituencies
- 16 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the Länder (component states of the federation) |
| Voting system |
Mixed:
Mixed system of (simple) majority vote and proportional representation.
Each voter has 2 votes: 1 ("first vote") for an individual candidate in one of the constituencies, and 1 ("second vote") for the party-list established, for each of the Länder, by each political party. Half of the Deputies are elected from among the individual candidates and half of them on the basis of the lists. Among candidates from a given constituency, the candidate having received the highest number of first votes becomes Deputy.
In each Land, every party is entitled to the number of seats that corresponds to its share in the second votes. The computation is made according to the Hare/Niemeyer system. The number of Deputies belonging to each party who were elected in the vote in the individual constituencies is subtracted from the total of the seats to which that party is entitled. The remaining seats are allocated to the candidates on the party list, in the order enumerated. It is possible for a party, as happened in the 1998 elections in 13 cases, to have what are known as "overhang mandates" when it wins more seats in the constituencies on the first vote than it is entitled to according to the results of the second vote calculation.
As a general rule, the party list that has obtained less than 5% of all the second votes in the country is disregarded unless at least 3 candidates of the party in question have been elected in constituencies.
Vacancies of seats filled by a member of a party which presented a party list are filled by the next candidate on that list, even when the Deputy had been elected in an individual constituency. Vacancies of seats filled by a Deputy who was not the member of a political party which presented a party list and who had been elected in an individual constituency are filled through a special election in that constituency.
Voting is not compulsory. Any person entitled to vote but unable to do so at his place of residence may obtain a voter's certificate and vote elsewhere or by correspondence. |
| Voter requirements |
- age: 18 years
- German citizenship
- residence in the country for at least 3 months
- under certain circumstances, German nationals who have not yet been resident in the country for 3 months or who live outside the country may vote. This applies, for example, to persons who: left the country less than 25 years ago; live outside Germany working as civil servants, soldiers or civil service employees by order of their supreme authority; reside in other EU Member States.
- disqualifications: guardianship, mental deficiency or illness |
| CANDIDATES |
| Eligibility |
- Qualified electors
- age: 18 years
- German citizenship |
| Incompatibilities |
- ministerial post in a federal state
- member of Federal Audit Office
- judge
- member of Bundesrat
- Civil servants
- members of the office of the Federal President |
| Candidacy requirements |
- candidatures for constituencies or for Land party lists
- candidatures for constituencies may be presented by a political party or by individuals
- candidacy for constituencies must be submitted by political parties if the party does not have at least 5 seats in the Bundestag or in the legislature of a given Land (a party which has not been continuously represented in the Bundestag or in the legislature of a given Land by at least 5 members may only submit a nomination as a party if it has announced its intended participation in the election to the Federal Returning Officer at least 75 days prior to the election)
- in case candidatures for constituencies are presented by individuals, candidacy must be supported by at least 200 electors of the same constituency
- candidatures for Land party lists may be presented by any political party. If the party does not have at least 5 seats, in the Bundestag or in a Land legislature, the support of at least one per 1000 eligible voters of the Land concerned is required. In each Land, each party may present only one list. |
