Ballot paper

Each voter has two votes in Bundestag elections. For that reason, there are two columns on the ballot paper.

• The left-hand column is for marking the first vote, which goes to a constituency candidate. This column contains the names of the candidates of the admitted constituency nominations as well as information on their occupation or status and place of residence; in the case of constituency nominations by parties, also the names of these parties and any shortened form of the party name or additional name that the party may use; in the case of other constituency nominations, also the identifying name.
• The right-hand column is for marking the second vote, which goes to the Land list of a party. This column contains the names of the parties and any shortened form of the party name or additional name that the party may use as well as the surnames and first names of the first five candidates from the admitted Land lists.

As each ballot paper lists the nominations for the individual constituency and Land, ballot papers in Germany are not identical but vary from Land to Land and constituency to constituency.

Back to top

Each voter has only one vote in European elections. The ballot paper contains

• the names of the parties as well as any shortened form they may use and, in the case of other political associations, the name and the identifying name, if they use one,
• the information whether the nomination is a list for one Land or a list for all Länder and, in the case of Land lists for one Land, the Land for which the nomination was made, as well as
• the surnames and family names of the first ten candidates on the list, their occupation or status, the municipality of their place of residence (main residence) and, for candidates on lists for all Länder, also the abbreviation of the Land in which the municipality of their place of residence is located.

As each ballot paper lists the nominations for the respective Land, ballot papers are not necessarily identical in all of Germany but may differ between Länder.

Back to top