Press release no. 10/2014 of 9. April 2014

Order of parties on ballot papers not identical in all of Germany

WIESBADEN – The order in which parties are listed on the ballot papers to be used in the European election on 25 May 2014 differs between the Länder. The Federal Returning Officer also reports that the order in which nominations are listed on the ballot papers is laid down in the European Elections Act. For any individual Land, that order is based on the number of votes cast for the parties and other political associations in the latest election to the European Parliament of 2009 in the Land concerned. Nominations of parties and political associations which did not participate in the latest European election follow in alphabetical order of names.

At this year’s European election, the CDU is listed first on the ballot papers in 13 Länder, the CSU in Bayern, the party DIE LINKE in Brandenburg and the SPD in Bremen. The second rank goes to the SPD in ten Länder, to the party DIE LINKE in four Länder (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen), to the CDU in Bremen and to DIE GRÜNEN in Berlin. Place no. 3 on the ballot papers is taken by DIE GRÜNEN in eight Länder, by the SPD in five Länder, by the CDU in Brandenburg, by the party DIE LINKE in Saarland and by the FDP in Rheinland-Pfalz. The fourth rank is occupied by the FDP in 13 Länder, by DIE GRÜNEN in two Länder (Brandenburg and Rheinland-Pfalz) and by the party DIE LINKE in Berlin.

A complete overview of the ballot papers of all Länder is available on the website of the Federal Returning Officer.

For further information:
Office of the Federal Returning Officer
tel: +49 611 75-4863
www.bundeswahlleiter.de/contact