The Federal Returning Officer and her responsibilities

The main task of the Federal Returning Officer is supervising the proper conduct of the election while observing the deadlines laid down by law, from the preparation phase to the publication of the final election results. In this regard, he has important coordination and control functions, which mainly are exercised in meetings with the Land returning officers held to discuss and clarify legal and organisational issues, but also in direct contact with the constituency returning officers, especially when difficult questions or problems arise. The cooperation with the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community which is responsible for the federal electoral law, is also close.

By virtue of law, the Federal Returning Officer is the chairperson of the Federal Electoral Committee. Eight people entitled to vote who have been proposed by the parties are appointed to the Federal Electoral Committee as members by the Federal Returning Officer as well as two judges of the Federal Administrative Court suggested by the Court’s President.

In accordance with Section 18 (2) of the Federal Elections Act, the Federal Returning Officer accepts notices of participation in the election from parties which have not been continuously represented by at least five deputies in the German Bundestag or a Land parliament since the last election to that assembly on the basis of nominations made by the party itself, she checks these notices without delay. She presents the notices of participation to the Federal Electoral Committee and reports on the result of her pre-examination.

The Federal Electoral Committee ascertains

• which parties have been continuously represented by at least five deputies in the German Bundestag or in a Land parliament since the last election to the relevant assembly on the basis of nominations made by the party itself and
• which associations have to be recognised as parties for the forthcoming election.

The Federal Returning Officer announces the decisions of the Federal Electoral Committee first orally and then publicly.

The Federal Returning Officer is entitled to file a complaint with the Land electoral committee whenever a constituency nomination has been approved or rejected by a constituency electoral committee.

The Federal Returning Officer accepts complaints filed against the decision of the Land electoral committees and examines them. She invites the complainants, the agents of the Land lists concerned and the respective Land returning officer to a further meeting of the Federal Electoral Committee and announces the decision of the latter in that meeting, briefly stating the reasons.

Before each Bundestag election, Germans living abroad who do not have a place of residence in Germany must apply anew for entry into the voters’ register of the municipality where they last lived. To ensure that Germans living abroad have not been registered more than once, the Federal Returning Officer compares the information submitted by the municipalities on entries they have made.

As laid down in the Federal Elections Act, constituency candidates may be listed in only one constituency nomination of only one constituency. Candidates running for one party must not be members of another. Land list candidates may be nominated on one Land list of one Land only. The Federal Returning Officer is provided with the data of all candidates and lists them. In this way, double candidatures are identified.

Once polling is over, the results are reported by the electoral boards to the Federal Returning Officer via the municipal authorities, Land returning officers and constituency returning officers. Still in the night of the election, the Federal Returning Officer compiles and publishes a provisional result for the electoral area containing information on the preliminary distribution of seats in the German Bundestag and the candidates elected according to the provisional result.

The Federal Returning Officer checks the election records of the constituency and Land electoral committees on the basis of which she prepares the compilation of the final election result. She determines the number of votes won by the individual Land lists and the parties as well as the total number of seats in the German Bundestag and allocates the seats to the parties and their Land lists.

The final result is established by the Federal Electoral Committee approximately 14 days after the election.

The Federal Returning Officer announces the final election result of the Bundestag election for the entire electoral area after it has been established by the Federal Electoral Committee. She also publishes the result in the Federal Gazette.

After the Bundestag election, the Federal Returning Officer has to check whether the provisions of the Federal Elections Act and the Federal Electoral Regulations have been adhered to in the election. She may arrange for all electoral documents to be sent to him for that purpose. If required, she may file an objection against the validity of the election in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Scrutiny of Elections.

Parties are required by the Political Parties Act to submit to the Federal Returning Officer their statutes, their program and the names of the party’s executive committee members and regional branches, stating their duties. The above documents are available for download on this website if they have been provided in electronic form. If not, they are available for inspection at the Office of the Federal Returning Officer. Copies are provided free of charge upon request. This is to ensure that the public has the chance to inform themselves about the objectives and internal organization of the political parties.