Land returning officer

In Bundestag elections, the electoral bodies are the Federal Returning Officer and the Federal Electoral Committee at federal level, the Land returning officers and Land electoral committees at Land level, the constituency returning officers and constituency electoral committees at constituency level, and the electoral officers and electoral boards at polling district level. Land returning officers and their deputies are appointed for an indefinite period by the Land government or the agency designated by the Land government.

The duties of Land returning officers include:

• set up the Land electoral committee and chair the committee,
• decide on the appointment of joint constituency electoral bodies for several constituencies,
• call for the submission of Land lists and receive and pre-examine Land lists as well as supporting signatures, where applicable,
• publish the admitted Land lists,
• monitor the decisions taken by the Land electoral committee on the admission of Land lists, with the right to lodge an appeal with the Federal Electoral Committee,
• determine and announce the provisional election result for the Land,
• announce the final election result for the Land,
• notify those candidates who are deemed elected according to the provisional results, and advise them of the need to wait for the Federal Electoral Committee to declare each candidate's election as final,
• verify the proper conduct of the election in the Land, with the right to lodge an objection in the electoral scrutiny procedure.

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Electoral bodies of European elections are the Federal Returning Officer and the Federal Electoral Committee at federal level, Land returning officers and Land electoral committees at Land level, district returning officers and district electoral committees at district level or town returning officers and town electoral committees in towns not attached to an administrative district, and electoral officers and electoral boards at polling district level. Land returning officers and their deputies are appointed for an indefinite period by the Land government or the agency designated by it.

In European elections, the duties of Land returning officers include: 

• appoint the members of the Land electoral committee and chair their meetings,
• announce the order of the nominations on the ballot papers,
• procure the ballot papers,
• determine the provisional election result for the Land and report it to the Federal Returning Officer,
• announce the final election result for the Land,
• exercise the right to lodge an objection in the electoral scrutiny procedure.

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