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Electoral systems

Majority voting (candidate-centred election):

In a constituency, the candidate who wins the most votes (relative majority) is elected to represent that constituency. All votes cast for defeated candidates are lost. Up until and including the 2021 Bundestag election, all constituency seats in the 299 constituencies were allocated according to the principle of majority voting. From the 2025 Bundestag election onwards, a candidate wins a constituency only if the seat is also backed by sufficient second votes.

Proportional representation: 

The total votes cast for a list (party) determines the number of representatives a party will send to parliament. As every vote counts, candidates of smaller parties can also win seats in parliament. The system of proportional representation may, however, facilitate the formation of splinter parties and therefore make it more difficult to form a majority in parliament – especially if there is no restrictive clause.

The legislation pertaining to Bundestag elections combines an electoral system where votes are cast for a candidate (first vote) with a system where votes are cast for a party list (second vote). The Land lists are fixed lists in the sense that the voter cannot alter the order of candidates on the list.

Up until and including the 2021 Bundestag election, a total of 598 representatives were elected according to the principles of proportional representation. Of these, 299 representatives were elected in the constituencies based on the first votes cast in a relative majority voting system. The remaining 299 were elected from Land lists based on the second votes cast (list voting system). Due to the calculation method used, the size of the Bundestag could increase to well above the aforementioned 598 seats (it had 138 additional seats in 2021, for example).

With the amendment to the legislation governing Bundestag elections, the candidate-centred element will be limited and the list voting element strengthened from 2025 onwards. There will be a total of 630 seats, and constituency seats will be awarded in the 299 constituencies only if they are backed by sufficient second votes.

It may be said that the legislation pertaining to Bundestag elections provides for a two-vote system as each voter has two votes. The second vote is decisive for the distribution of seats and therefore the Bundestag members (598 before and in the 2021 Bundestag election, 630 from the 2025 Bundestag election onwards) unless the provisions of the Federal Elections Act stipulate otherwise. Constituency candidates are elected by the first votes (direct election), but as of the 2025 Bundestag election they will only be allocated a constituency seat if there are sufficient second votes to back the seat.

Bundestag seats are distributed among the parties at federal level and then among the Land lists according to the “Sainte-Laguë/Schepers” system.

Members of the European Parliament from the Federal Republic of Germany are elected according to the principles of proportional representation with fixed lists that cannot be altered. There can be two types of lists: lists of candidates running for election in one Land (Land lists) and lists of candidates standing for election in all Länder (federal lists). Each voter has one vote. Lists may be submitted by political parties or other political associations. Individual candidates may not stand for election; votes can only be cast for lists of candidates.

Last update: 26 January 2024