It's the end of an era.
After 16 years, Angela Merkel won’t be chancellor anymore.
So, who’s taking over?
To determine that, Germany will hold federal elections.
And that’s a complicated process. But for good reasons.
First thing you need to know:
Germans don't vote directly for their chancellor.
They vote to elect members of parliament: The Bundestag.
They do that every 4 years.
Unlike in many other countries, like the US, all German citizens are automatically registered
to vote once they turn 18.
No matter their gender, religion, or political conviction.
60.4 million people will be eligible in the 2021 election.
Every vote counts the same.
Germans can either cast their vote by mail,
Or in person on Election Day.
Polling places are in schools, museums, — you name it.
Poll workers ensure an accurate, efficient, and secure process.
We are extremely diligent when it comes to the election process.
For instance, we check the election register every time someone comes in, making sure they
are actually eligible to vote.
Once that’s checked the voter is good to go.
But there are rules:
Voting happens alone. No one else sees what happens inside the voting booth - or which
boxes on the ballot are ticked. And no one is permitted to influence the voters’ choice.
Curtains closed, no selfies allowed.
On the ballot, there is not just one box to tick but two.
With the first box, Germans vote for a candidate from their constituency.
The one with the majority of votes automatically joins parliament.
With the second box voters choose a political party.
This second vote determines the overall percentage each political party gets in the Bundestag,
Germany’s federal parliament.
And in order for any party to enter the Bundestag, it has to win at least 5 percent of the second
vote. To prevent smaller splinter parties and legislative gridlock.
There are a few more details, for example the overhang mandates.
Sometimes, a party will receive more direct parliament seats through the first vote than
it would from its share of the party vote. Since each candidate who wins a constituency
is guaranteed a seat, the party gets to maintain those "overhang" seats. Other parties then
also get more seats to compensate for this, making the parliament larger than its base
number of 598 seats.
But this is really complicated - so we’ll explain that another time.
Speaking of complicated: No German election happens without a paper trail!
Not much is digitized — for security reasons.
But – surprise – some digitalization has been happening in the meantime.
For the final reporting of the votes, poll workers can use for example email.
Or the good old telephone.
At 6 pm on election day, the first exit polls are announced.
Once the final results are counted, we move on to the next step.
Remember: The election results determine the relative strengths of the parties in the Bundestag.
Once the members are set, they team up in coalitions to form a majority.
Then they elect the Chancellor.
Each step of the process is necessary to ensure a transparent and accurate voting system.