There will be an election in Germany next Sunday. It is an important election, but for many there are still some unanswered questions. Who you should vote for, you have to decide yourself of course. How you can vote, we can give you some help. Here you can find an overview with all the important information about the elections:
Election system and eligibility
First, briefly, what is elected and who is eligible to vote: The German Bundestag is elected according to the principles of a proportional representation combined with personal election. This is also called personalised proportional representation. The voters have two votes. A "first vote", which decides on the entry of a direct candidate and a "second vote", which determines the number of candidates who are elected to parliament via the state list of a party. It is the decisive vote for the allocation of seats.
All Germans within the meaning of Article 116 (1) of the Basic Law who have reached the age of 18 on election day and have been resident in the Federal Republic of Germany for at least three months before election day or otherwise usually reside there and are not excluded from the right to vote as a result of a judge's decision are eligible to vote.
If the other requirements are met, those who live outside the Federal Republic of Germany on election day are also entitled to vote, provided that they have lived in the Federal Republic of Germany for at least three months without interruption within the last 25 years and after reaching the age of 14. They are also eligible to vote if, on election day, they live outside the Federal Republic of Germany, provided that, within the last 25 years and after reaching the age of 14, they have had an uninterrupted residence in the Federal Republic of Germany for at least 3 months or have habitually resided in the Federal Republic of Germany or have, for other reasons, acquired personal and direct familiarity with the political conditions in the Federal Republic of Germany and are affected by them. This group of persons is referred to as "Germans living abroad". A total of 3000 foreign Germans were registered on the electoral roll in Frankfurt am Main upon request, which corresponds to an increase of 392 persons compared to the 2017 Bundestag election.
The number of eligible voters in the two Frankfurt constituencies 182 - Frankfurt am Main I and 183 - Frankfurt am Main II totals around 428,500 (as of 21 September 2021). This figure is provisional until election day, as there are still changes due to the updating of the electoral roll. By comparison, the 2017 federal election recorded 423,717 eligible voters.
County election proposals and state list
For the upcoming election in the two Frankfurt Bundestag constituencies 182 and 183, a total of ten and nine direct candidates, respectively, are standing for election. Compared to the last Bundestag election, this is one direct candidate less in each case. In 2017, the direct mandate of constituency 182 went with a vote margin of 4959 votes to Matthias Zimmer and in constituency 183 with a vote margin of 10981 votes to Bettina Wiesmann (both CDU).
The state list includes a total of 23 parties. This is five more nominations than in the 2017 general election.
Voting go also without election notification
The election notifications are now all sent. You should bring your polling card with you to vote at the polling places, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Election Day. This will make the voting process easier and faster. Among other things, the election notification shows the applicable constituency and the address of the polling station.
Elected voters who have misplaced or forgotten the notification can still vote, provided they are on the electoral roll or have a ballot paper. They must identify themselves to the electoral board at the polling station with their identity card or other official identification document.
Elected voters who have applied for absentee ballot papers may vote by postal ballot or, upon presentation of the ballot paper, cast their vote in any polling station in their constituency. If absentee ballots have not been received, replacements may be issued at the Innenstadt absentee polling station, Lange Straße 25 - 27, until 12 noon on Saturday, September 25, 2021.
Accessible polling stations
.97 percent of the 376 total polling places are accessible. Whether a polling station has barrier-free access can be seen from the pictogram on the election notification or asked at the Elections Office hotline 069/212-40400.
Representative Election Statistics
Nine constituencies (including four postal voting districts) are representative constituencies and thus the basis for representative election statistics. The legal basis for this is the Electoral Statistics Act. In these constituencies, voting is done with ballot papers that have different letter imprints in the upper right corner - concerning gender and age. The letter imprints are also found on the election notification.
Voters are informed about the special way of voting by a yellow poster, which is posted in a conspicuous place in the polling station. The groups and constituencies are chosen in such a way that the secrecy of the ballot is always preserved.
Absentee Ballots Issued - Record Results
As of Tuesday, 21. September 2021, 172,148 absentee ballots have been issued for the general election. That's about 40 percent of Frankfurt's provisional eligible voters. In the 2017 federal election, 101,580 or 23.9 percent of eligible voters had received absentee ballots by the end of the application period. This more than confirms the Frankfurt election authority's assumption of a very high absentee ballot turnout, which was already forecast at the beginning of the absentee ballot on 16 August 2021. Never before have there been so many absentee ballots issued in an election in Frankfurt am Main.
Recommendation: pick up absentee ballots in person now or vote on site at the absentee polling place
Friday, 24. September 2021, 6 p.m. is the latest date to apply for absentee ballots. Until that time, the absentee ballot stations, Innenstadt, Lange Straße 25 - 27 and Bürgeramt Höchst, Dalbergstraße 14, will be open.
Opening hours of the two absentee voting stations, Innenstadt and Bürgeramt Höchst:
Wednesday, 22. September 2021 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Thursday, September 23, 2021 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday, September 24.September 2021 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, September 25. September 2021 8 am to 12 pm
(Note: only postal polling station Innenstadt, Lange Straße 25 - 27 - only replacement documents - no new issue possible anymore!)
The City of Frankfurt am Main recommends, due to the short time until election day in conjunction with the postal delivery times, to apply for absentee ballots in person at the absentee polling stations from now on. Here you have the possibility to vote on the spot or to take the absentee ballot documents with you.
In case of proven sudden illness, absentee ballot documents will be issued until 3 p.m. on election day at the Bürgeramt, Statistik und Wahlen, Zeil 3, entrance Lange Straße, 60313 Frankfurt am Main. For this purpose, please notify the election hotline 069/212-40400.
The votes of the absentee ballot may only be counted if the red ballot letter has been received by the election authority by 6 p.m. on election day, 26 September 2021 at the latest. With this in mind, we strongly recommend that you return your red ballot letter to the Frankfurt Election Authority as soon as possible. Arrangements have been made with the postal service provider for special emptying of yellow mailboxes on Saturday, September 25, 2021, beginning at 1 p.m.
You can also hand in your voting letter directly at the Bürgeramt, Statistik und Wahlen, Briefwahllokal Innenstadt, Lange Straße 25 - 27 or at the Zentrales Bürgeramt, Zeil 3, entrance Lange Straße or at the Bürgeramt Höchst, Dalbergstraße 14 or use the corresponding house letter boxes. If you have not received your absentee ballot, you can apply for a replacement. In this case, replacement documents can be issued during the opening hours mentioned above. In addition, these can also be applied for on Saturday, 25 September 2021 - but only at the postal polling station in the city centre - from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (Note: no re-issuing!).
Important information about postal voting can be taken from the website at www.frankfurt.de/briefwahl.
Corona safeguards
<pp class="MsoNoSpacing">In order to make voting at the polling place as safe as possible, sanitation and protection plans have been developed in close coordination with the City Health Department. The health of voters and all poll workers is paramount. The Citizen's Office, Statistics and Elections has taken all necessary precautions to exclude, as far as possible, any health risk to all voters as well as to the voluntary election committees and other persons. Thus, all electoral and postal voting boards will be equipped with the necessary hygiene articles. A total of approximately 5,500 FFP2 masks, approximately 62,000 surgical masks, approximately 29,000 disinfectant wipes, approximately 350 litres of hand disinfectant, approximately 20,000 metres of adhesive tape and, depending on the size of the polling station, spit shields will be provided to ensure that the equipment is pandemic-proof. In the polling stations as well as during the central counting of the absentee ballot in Hall 3 of the Messe Frankfurt, the wearing of a mouth-nose protection is generally obligatory.
The Frankfurt Election Authority asks all eligible voters who wish to cast their ballots at the polling station to bring their own pen to mark the ballot in order to keep the risk of infection as low as possible.
For questions about the federal election, the Citizens' Office, Statistics and Elections is available at
Elections Hotline 069/212-40400 or
by email to wahlamt.info@stadt-frankfurt.de
will be happy to assist.
Further information is also available on the Internet at www.frankfurt.de/wahlen.
