Part 2 of our series on the #btw17, i.e. the Bundestag election. In the last part , we showed you why voting is important and why you should go to the polling station on September 24th.
And that brings us to today’s topic. Many – and maybe you too – already know this. You go to the polling station on Sunday, make two crosses and leave again. But there are also many first-time voters in this election. For them, let’s briefly introduce the electoral system.
How do you actually vote?
As is so often the case in Germany, this is somehow quite bourocratic and complicated. What is the difference between first and second votes? What is an overhang mandate? And when does someone actually get into the Bundestag now?
Questions upon questions. Sooooo.
Each voter has two votes at his or her disposal. Just the so-called first and second vote. With the vote, the direct candidate from the constituencies is elected. There are a total of 299 of these constituencies. Every direct candidate who has received the relatively most votes in one of these constituencies will enter the Bundestag. However, since there are 598 seats in the Bundestag up for grabs, this is only half. The other half is determined on the basis of the second votes.
In the second votes, only the names of the parties are listed, no names of persons as in the first vote. The other half is then distributed in such a way that each party subtracts from the total number of seats won those occupied by the constituency winners. The remaining seats will then be filled by the candidates of the state list.
Then there are overhang and compensatory mandates, but that’s too much for here now. But you can read about it, for example, at the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
The thing with the postal vote
If you still want to celebrate on Saturday and are not sure whether you will make it to the polling station by 18:00, you should think about postal voting. You will receive the ballot paper by mail, you can cast your vote and send it back by post. And you don’t even have to pay postage. 😉
You can apply for the postal vote at your city. All you need is the voter’s notification to verify yourself. Ready! You’ve already cast your vote!
Picture credits: (c) German Bundestag / Marc-Steffen Unger