Federal Republic of Germany Election system Federal elections () are conducted approximately every four years, resulting from the
constitutional requirement for elections to be held 46 to 48 months after the assembly of the Bundestag. Elections can be held earlier in exceptional constitutional circumstances: for example, were the Chancellor to lose a vote of confidence in the Bundestag, then, during a grace period before the Bundestag can vote in a replacement Chancellor, the Chancellor could request the Federal President to dissolve the Bundestag and hold elections. Should the Bundestag be dismissed before the four-year period has ended, elections must be held within 100 days. The exact date of the election is chosen by the
President and must be a Sunday or public holiday. German nationals over the age of 18 who have resided in Germany for at least three months are eligible to vote. Eligibility for candidacy is essentially the same. The federal
legislature in Germany has a one chamber parliament—the
Bundestag (Federal Diet); the
Bundesrat (Federal Council) represents the
States (in particular the state Governments) and is not considered a chamber as its members are not elected. The Bundestag is elected using a
mixed member proportional system. The Bundestag has 598 nominal members, elected for a four-year term. Half, 299 members, are elected in
single-member constituencies by
first-past-the-post voting, while a further 299 members are allocated from party lists to achieve a proportional distribution in the legislature, conducted according to a form of
proportional representation called the
Mixed member proportional representation system (MMP). Voters vote once for a constituency representative, and a second time for a party, and the lists are used to make the party balances match the distribution of second votes.
Overhang seats may add to the nominal number of 598 members: for example, in the
2009 federal election there were 24
overhang seats, giving a total of 622 seats. This is caused by larger parties winning additional single-member constituencies above the totals determined by their proportional party vote. Germany has a
multi-party system with two historically strong
political parties and some other third parties also represented in the Bundestag. Since 1990, and including the results of the most recent federal election in 2021, just six main political parties have managed to secure representation in the Bundestag (counting the CDU and CSU as one, and excluding recognised minority group parties such as the SSW which are exempted in federal law from the 5% threshold that is normally required to be breached in order to win party-list seats). In 2008, some modifications to the electoral system were required under an order of the
Federal Constitutional Court. The court had found that a provision in the Federal Election Law made it possible for a party to experience a
negative vote weight, thus
losing seats due to
more votes, and found that this violated the constitutional guarantee of the electoral system being equal and direct. The court allowed three years to amend the law. Accordingly, the
2009 federal election was allowed to proceed under the previous system. The changes were due by 30 June 2011, but appropriate legislation was not completed by that deadline. A new electoral law was enacted in late 2011, but declared unconstitutional once again by the Federal Constitutional Court upon lawsuits from the opposition parties and a group of some 4,000 private citizens. Finally, four of the five factions in the Bundestag agreed on an electoral reform whereby the number of seats in the Bundestag will be increased as much as necessary to ensure that any overhang seats are
compensated through apportioned
leveling seats, to ensure full proportionality according to the political party's share of party votes at the national level. The Bundestag approved and enacted the new electoral reform in February 2013.
List of federal election results •
1949 West German federal election •
1953 West German federal election •
1957 West German federal election •
1961 West German federal election •
1965 West German federal election •
1969 West German federal election •
1972 West German federal election •
1976 West German federal election •
1980 West German federal election •
1983 West German federal election •
1987 West German federal election •
1990 German federal election (1st of the re-united Germany) •
1994 German federal election •
1998 German federal election •
2002 German federal election •
2005 German federal election •
2009 German federal election •
2013 German federal election •
2017 German federal election •
2021 German federal election •
2025 German federal election File:1949 West German federal election.svg|1949 File:1953 West German federal election.svg|1953 File:1957 West German federal election.svg|1957 File:1961 West German federal election.svg|1961 File:1965 West German federal election.svg|1965 File:1969 West German federal election.svg|1969 File:1972 West German federal election.svg|1972 File:1976 West German federal election.svg|1976 File:1980 West German federal election.svg|1980 File:1983 West German federal election.svg|1983 File:1987 West German federal election.svg|1987 File:1990 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg|1990 File:1994 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg|1994 File:1998 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg|1998 File:2002 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg|2002 File:2005 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg|2005 File:2009 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg|2009 File:German Federal Election 2013 - Results By Constituency.svg|2013 File:German Federal Election 2017 - Results by Constituency & Regional Seats.svg|2017 File:German Federal Election 2021 - Results by Constituency & Regional Seats.svg|2021 File:2025 German federal election seats by constituencies.svg|2025
European elections Every 5 years, Germany, as a founding member of the
European Union, votes to select their delegates to the
European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected through a proportional party list system, which, unlike federal elections, do not require a minimum threshold to win seats or constituency seats. The
voting age has been set at 16 since 2024. The
CDU/CSU has won every EU election since 1979, As of 2024. •
1979 European Parliament election in West Germany •
1984 European Parliament election in West Germany •
1989 European Parliament election in West Germany •
1994 European Parliament election in Germany •
1999 European Parliament election in Germany •
2004 European Parliament election in Germany •
2009 European Parliament election in Germany •
2014 European Parliament election in Germany •
2019 European Parliament election in Germany •
2024 European Parliament election in Germany File:2009 European Parliament election in Germany.svg|2009 File:2014 European election in Germany - Results.svg|2014 File:2019 European election in Germany - Results.svg|2019 File:2024 European Parliament election in Germany - Results.svg|2024
Presidential elections Germans do not directly vote for their
President. Instead the President is elected every 5 years by the
Federal Convention. All members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates elected by the
state parliaments specifically for this purpose, proportional to their population, comprise the voters of the convention. •
1949 West German presidential election •
1954 West German presidential election •
1959 West German presidential election •
1964 West German presidential election •
1969 West German presidential election •
1974 West German presidential election •
1979 West German presidential election •
1984 West German presidential election •
1989 West German presidential election •
1994 German presidential election •
1999 German presidential election •
2004 German presidential election •
2009 German presidential election •
2010 German presidential election •
2012 German presidential election •
2017 German presidential election •
2022 German presidential election State elections in the Federal Republic of Germany State elections are conducted under various rules set by the
states. In general they are conducted according to some form of party-list proportional representation, either the same as the federal system or some simplified version. The election period is generally four to five years, and the dates of elections vary from state to state.
Baden-Württemberg state election results •
2001 Baden-Württemberg state election •
2006 Baden-Württemberg state election •
2011 Baden-Württemberg state election •
2016 Baden-Württemberg state election •
2021 Baden-Württemberg state election •
2026 Baden-Württemberg state election Bavaria state election results •
1986 Bavarian state election •
1990 Bavarian state election •
1994 Bavarian state election •
1998 Bavarian state election •
2003 Bavarian state election •
2008 Bavarian state election •
2013 Bavarian state election •
2018 Bavarian state election •
2023 Bavarian state election •
2028 Bavarian state election Berlin state election results •
2001 Berlin state election •
2006 Berlin state election •
2011 Berlin state election •
2016 Berlin state election •
2021 Berlin state election •
2023 Berlin repeat state election •
2026 Berlin state election Brandenburg state election results •
1999 Brandenburg state election •
2004 Brandenburg state election •
2009 Brandenburg state election •
2014 Brandenburg state election •
2019 Brandenburg state election •
2024 Brandenburg state election •
2029 Brandenburg state election Bremen state election results •
2003 Bremen state election •
2007 Bremen state election •
2011 Bremen state election •
2015 Bremen state election •
2019 Bremen state election •
2023 Bremen state election •
2027 Bremen state election Hamburg state election results •
2004 Hamburg state election •
2008 Hamburg state election •
2011 Hamburg state election •
2015 Hamburg state election •
2020 Hamburg state election •
2025 Hamburg state election Hessian state election results •
1999 Hessian state election •
2003 Hessian state election •
2008 Hessian state election •
2009 Hessian state election •
2013 Hessian state election •
2018 Hessian state election •
2023 Hessian state election •
2028 Hessian state election Lower Saxony state election results •
1998 Lower Saxony state election •
2003 Lower Saxony state election •
2008 Lower Saxony state election •
2013 Lower Saxony state election •
2017 Lower Saxony state election •
2022 Lower Saxony state election •
2027 Lower Saxony state election Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election results •
2002 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election •
2006 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election •
2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election •
2016 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election •
2021 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election •
2026 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election North Rhine-Westphalia state election results •
2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election •
2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election •
2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election •
2012 North Rhine-Westphalia state election •
2017 North Rhine-Westphalia state election •
2022 North Rhine-Westphalia state election •
2027 North Rhine-Westphalia state election Rhineland-Palatinate state election results •
2001 Rhineland-Palatinate state election •
2006 Rhineland-Palatinate state election •
2011 Rhineland-Palatinate state election •
2016 Rhineland-Palatinate state election •
2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election •
2026 Rhineland-Palatinate state election Saarland state election results •
1999 Saarland state election •
2004 Saarland state election •
2009 Saarland state election •
2012 Saarland state election •
2017 Saarland state election •
2022 Saarland state election •
2027 Saarland state election Saxony state election results •
1999 Saxony state election •
2004 Saxony state election •
2009 Saxony state election •
2014 Saxony state election •
2019 Saxony state election •
2024 Saxony state election •
2029 Saxony state election Saxony-Anhalt state election results •
2002 Saxony-Anhalt state election •
2006 Saxony-Anhalt state election •
2011 Saxony-Anhalt state election •
2016 Saxony-Anhalt state election •
2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election •
2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election Schleswig-Holstein state election results •
2000 Schleswig-Holstein state election •
2005 Schleswig-Holstein state election •
2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election •
2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election •
2017 Schleswig-Holstein state election •
2022 Schleswig-Holstein state election •
2027 Schleswig-Holstein state election Thuringia state election results •
2004 Thuringian state election •
2009 Thuringian state election •
2014 Thuringian state election •
2019 Thuringian state election •
2024 Thuringian state election •
2029 Thuringian state election German Democratic Republic In the
German Democratic Republic, elections to the were effectively controlled by the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and state hierarchy, even though multiple
pro forma parties existed. The
18 March 1990 election were the first free ones held in the GDR, producing a government whose major mandate was to negotiate an end to itself and its state. Prior to the
Fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany did not have
free elections. Polling places were under surveillance by the state security apparatuses and the ruling party, the SED, presented voters with a slate of proposed candidates. Voters could optionally enter a booth to strike any candidates the voter did not want; a voter who agreed with the SED's full list simply folded the unmarked ballot in half and placed it into the ballot box. Entering a voting booth was considered suspicious and was noted by the state security apparatuses, which could lead to consequences later for the voter. East German voters commonly referred to the act of voting as "folding" (). Election outcomes prior to 1990 commonly saw 99% of voters in favor of the suggested slate of candidates. On top of this, the government engaged in
electoral fraud and commonly falsified both results and voter turnout percentages, even as late as the May 1989 municipal elections. •
1949 East German Constitutional Assembly election •
1950 East German general election •
1954 East German general election •
1958 East German general election •
1963 East German general election •
1967 East German general election •
1971 East German general election •
1976 East German general election •
1981 East German general election •
1986 East German general election •
1990 East German general election (only multiparty election)
Local elections Local elections in Germany () include elections for most regional and local subdivisions, unless their representatives are appointed or elected by another assembly or office. Such local elections are conducted for representatives in
districts, cities, towns, villages and various other administrative regional organizations. In cities and towns local elections usually include voting for a
lord mayor or
mayor. Smaller villages and settlements may elect a representative () with limited administrative power. Local elections are also often combined with polls about important local matters and questions of general public interest (i.e. the construction of local roads or other infrastructure facilities). While such polls are not legally binding in most cases, their results have considerable influence on local political decisions. After the
Maastricht Treaty of 1992 to strengthen the European integration, Germany and other
EU member states implemented legislative changes to grant foreigners of other EU countries the
right to vote in local elections in their host country. Foreign EU citizens can vote in elections on district and municipal level in Germany, after the
German states adapted their regulations between 1995 and 1998. ==See also==