Federal election 2025

The Bundestag was to be elected on Sunday, September 28, 2025. This was decided by the Federal President in consultation with the Federal Government in the summer of 2024.

Due to the vote of confidence by the Federal Chancellor and the necessary dissolution of the Bundestag by the Federal President, several party stakeholders agreed on the election date of February 23, 2025 in a meeting with the Federal President.

Up-to-date information on the election of the 21st Bundestag can be found on the website of the Federal Returning Officer.

All Germans who

• have reached the age of 18 on election day
• have been resident in Germany for at least three months and
• are not excluded from the right to vote.

As a rule, Germans living abroad can also vote. Persons who have been deprived of the right to vote by a court ruling are excluded from the right to vote.

Read more here

• Website of the Federal Returning Officer
• Federal Agency for Civic Education
• Inspection of the electoral roll

Voters have two votes: the first vote and the second vote.

The first vote determines the constituency representative for the Erlangen constituency by direct election. The first vote is cast on the left-hand side of the ballot paper.

The second vote, which is cast on the right-hand half of the ballot paper, is used to vote for the state list of a party.

There are two ways to cast your vote:

Voting at the polling station

The polling station where you can vote on election day from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm is indicated on the polling card. You will need to bring a passport or identity document with you as well as your polling card. The polling card will be sent out at the end of January 2025.

Voting by postal vote

Anyone who applies for a postal vote does not have to go to the polling station on election day. They can cast their votes beforehand and must then send the election letter to the city of Erlangen. Information on exactly how to do this can be found here at the beginning of 2025 and in the election notification. Read more about postal voting here.

Are you looking for information on postal voting in plain language?

Click here.

Anyone who applies for it does not have to go to the polling station on election day. They can cast their votes beforehand and must then send the election letter to the city of Erlangen. Information on exactly how to do this can be found here at the beginning of 2025 and in the election notification. Read more about postal voting here.

Are you looking for information on postal voting in plain language?

Click here.

Counting will take place on election day after the polling stations close at 18:00. The first results are expected from 19:00. They can be viewed on the homepage of the City of Erlangen.

Participation in elections is a central component of the right to vote. Candidates from political parties, voter groups and individual candidates can stand for election. Find out more here.

The Erlangen constituency (241) consists of

• the city of Erlangen
• the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt
• the administrative community of Uehlfeld with the municipalities of Dachsbach, Gerhardshofen
• Uehlfeld from the district of Neustadt a.d.Aisch-Bad Windsheim.

The respective municipalities organize the election in their municipal area. All results are collected by the city of Erlangen as the district election management. Thus, all the threads for the Erlangen constituency (241) come together at the electoral office of the city of Erlangen.

Here: Contact the electoral office of the city of Erlangen

Volunteers are also deployed to help run the election.

Tasks of the polling assistants:

- ensure peace and order in the polling stations
- check eligibility to vote on the basis of the electoral roll
- handing out the ballot papers
- enter voter participation in the electoral roll
- count the voters
- count the votes after the polling station closes at 18:00
- determine the provisional election result
- determine the election result.

In addition, there are the polling assistants who take on other tasks such as house administration, summarizing the results in the town hall on election night and compiling statistics.

The polling assistants are instructed in their tasks. Anyone who also acts as a polling officer - i.e. the team leader - at a polling station receives organizational and legal training.

In the general polling stations throughout the city, work begins at 7:30 a.m. on election Sunday. The polling stations open at 8:00 am and close at 6:00 pm. Each electoral board usually consists of eight people. The assistants do not all have to be present at all times during the election period. The election supervisors divide up a morning and an afternoon group in advance.

From 6 p.m., all members of the election committee come together to determine the results. This usually lasts until around 8:00 p.m. In the case of the postal ballot count, it is expected to take between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Here: More information

Would you like to volunteer as a poll worker?

Then please contact the electoral office directly.

The most important task is legislation. The laws apply to the whole of Germany. The Bundestag also elects the Federal Chancellor and controls the Federal Government.

Read more here on the website of the Federal Agency for Civic Education

The Bundestag also provides information about its work.

The new Bundestag consists of 630 MPs. Of these, 299 will be elected according to district election proposals in the constituencies and the remainder according to state election proposals (state lists). Until the 2021 Bundestag elections, there were 598 MPs. Find out more here

The Federal Returning Officer has compiled them on a website. All essential legal bases can be found here.

The Federal Returning Officer provides information in plain language on her website.

The ordinance of the City of Erlangen on the display of notices and posters and on representations by billposters (billposting ordinance) applies.

In accordance with § 2 Para. 1 of the Billposting Ordinance, the political parties, voter groups and candidates registered for the elections may put up or have posters put up in the city area up to 43 days before the election date. The provisions of § 2 Para. 2 of the Billposting Ordinance must be complied with. In particular, this regulates the temporal and spatial requirements for the installation and mounting locations as well as the poster characteristics.

The locations where posters may not be erected or affixed can be found in Section 2 (3) of the Billposting Ordinance.

As a general rule, the person responsible for the content and attachment must be named on all posters (name or company and address).

Damaged posters, including the mounting material, must be removed immediately. Posters or poster supports that are not properly attached must be repaired immediately.

Violation of the Billposting Ordinance constitutes an administrative offense and may be punished with a fine.

The billposting ordinance can be found here