Representative electoral statistics

Representative electoral statistics are used to analyse the voting behaviour, namely the voter turnout and the votes cast by sex and year of birth groups. They provide information, beyond the official election result, on the extent to which people entitled to vote, by age and year of birth groups, have participated in the election and how voters have voted. They also show how invalid votes were cast.

Representative electoral statistics are produced for both Bundestag and European elections.

Who produces representative electoral statistics?

The statistical offices of the Länder and the Federal Statistical Office are responsible for both organising the production of representative electoral statistics and compiling the results.

Votes are counted

by the municipalities to establish the voter turnout
by the statistical offices of the Länder to establish the number of votes cast and the number of invalid votes; municipalities with a statistical unit do the counting themselves.

Legal basis

Section 5 of the Act on Electoral Statistics (WStatG)

What is covered?

The voters’ registers and the official ballot papers returned in the polling districts are processed to obtain the data. This means that representative electoral statistics are more precise than for instance the figures of research institutes who ask voters how they have voted.

The following characteristics are covered to analyse the voter turnout:

persons entitled to vote
polling card note
participation in the election
sex
a maximum of 10 year of birth groups, comprising at least 3 birth years each, in the Bundestag election of 2025:

Year of birth group	Age group, roughly
2005 – 2007	under 21
2001 – 2004	21 – 24
1996 – 2000	25 – 29
1991 – 1995	30 – 34
1986 – 1990	35 – 39
1981 – 1985	40 – 44
1976 – 1980	45 – 49
1966 – 1975	50 – 59
1956 – 1965	60 – 69
1955 and before	70 and over

The following characteristics are covered to analyse votes cast and invalid votes:

vote cast
invalid vote
reason for invalidity
sex
a maximum of 6 year of birth groups, comprising at least 7 birth years each, in the Bundestag election of 2025:

Group		Year of birth group	Age group, roughly
Men	Women	Year of birth group	Age group, roughly
A	G	2001 – 2007	under 25
B	H	1991 – 2000	25 – 34
C	I	1981 – 1990	35 – 44
D	K	1966 – 1980	45 – 59
E	L	1956 – 1965	60 – 69
F	M	1955 and before	70 and over

Legal basis

Section 4 of the Act on Electoral Statistics (WStatG)

How many people entitled to vote and voters are covered by representative electoral statistics?

Representative electoral statistics are based on a sample survey. A maximum of 5 % of the 92,000 ballot box and postal ballot districts in all of Germany are chosen for representative purposes. These polling districts are selected at random by mathematical and technical methods and determined in agreement with the Land returning officers and the Land statistical offices. In the lastest Bundestag election, approximately 1.9 million of about 61.2 million people entitled to vote were included in the survey.

Legal basis

Section 3 of the Act on Electoral Statistics (WStatG)

How is the voter turnout by sex and year of birth group analysed?

The voter turnout by sex and year of birth group is established by means of the voters’ registers.

For this purpose, the electoral boards send the voters' registers to the municipal authorities once the official result has been established. The latter analyse the voters’ registers to find out how many people were entitled to vote in the polling district, by sex and year of birth group, how many of them took part in the election (there is a note indicating that they cast their vote) or had a polling card note.

They submit the results to the statistical office of the Land which determines a Land result.

Legal basis

Section 5 (1) of the Act on Electoral Statistics (WStatG)

How are the votes cast analysed by sex and year of birth group?

The official ballot papers are used to analyse the votes cast by sex and year of birth group. All ballot papers of a polling district which is in the sample have one of the 12 distinctive marks printed on them at the top (“male” or “female” for the sex and one of the 6 year of birth groups). To facilitate the distribution of the ballot papers and the counting of the votes, a letter may also be printed on the ballot paper which serves as a code.

After the official result has been established, the electoral boards send the ballot papers to the statistical offices of the Länder or, in municipalities which have their own statistical unit, to the municipalities. These sort the ballot papers by population group and determine the election result for each group. If a vote is invalid, the reason is also taken down, for example no crosses made, several crosses made or ballot paper crossed out.

The statistical office of the Land then calculates a Land result from these figures.

Legal basis

Section 5 (2) of the Act on Electoral Statistics (WStatG)

Dieses Bild zeigt einen Musterstimmzettel mit Unterscheidungsaufdruck für die repräsentative Wahlstatistik

Are the secrecy of the ballot and data protection ensured?

The overriding principle of all democratic elections is the secrecy of the vote. In the case of representative electoral statistics, the legislator has adopted several measures to ensure that the secrecy of the ballot is not violated.

Only ballot box districts with a minimum of 400 people entitled to vote and postal ballot districts with at least 400 voters may be included in the sample.
There must not be too many year of birth groups and they must not be too small. For analysing the voter turnout, there may be no more than 10 year of birth groups comprising a minimum of 3 birth years each. For analysing the votes cast, there may be 6 year of birth groups at most, comprising at least 7 birth years each.

These measures guarantee that the population groups to be analysed are large enough so that no information can be derived on individual persons entitled to vote or individual voters. In addition, there are some administrative rules.

Counting for representative purposes is the sole responsibility of the municipalities and the statistical offices of the Länder. After the votes have been counted without any statistical evaluation having been made, the electoral documents are packaged up and sealed by the electoral boards and then sent to the statistical authorities for further analysis.
Voters’ registers and ballot papers must not be brought together at any time. The counting has to be carried out in strictly separate areas.
Representative electoral statistics must not be published for individual polling districts. Municipalities may release their representative election results subject to strict conditions. The statistical offices of the Länder and the Federal Statistical Office publish results for each Land and for Germany.

Legal bases

Sections 3 - 6, 8 of the Act on Electoral Statistics (WStatG)

How do I know if I am going to vote in a representative polling district?

Municipalities have to notify people entitled to vote of the fact that their polling district is in the sample for representative statistics. The information is usually provided with the voter’s notification or the polling card documents. The polling districts where representative election statistics are compiled may also be published in official announcements of the municipality or in the press. On election day a notice is posted in front of the respective polling stations and information material is displayed.

Legal basis

Section 3 of the Act on Electoral Statistics (WStatG)

I am to vote in a representative polling district. Can I vote without my ballot paper being processed for representative purposes?

You cannot vote in a representative polling district using a ballot paper without distinctive features printed on it. The electoral boards do not have ballot papers without such features.

Generally, a polling card may be applied for in due time before the election. It can be used to vote in any other polling district of the constituency or by post.