Federal election 2025

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. For Germans who are not resident in the Federal Republic of Germany, the municipality in which they were last registered before moving away is responsible. More information can be found here.

Persons whose right to vote has been revoked by a judge are excluded from the right to vote.

By the way: In Erlangen, around 76,000 citizens are called upon to cast their votes, around 3,400 of them for the first time.

Read more here

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

Voting notifications are sent out in the last week of January. The basis for this is the official electoral roll. It was compiled nationwide by the city and municipal administrations as of January 12. The polling card contains important information on how to vote in the 59 municipal polling stations. The form for applying for a polling card (postal voting documents) is printed on the back of the polling card.

As the complete postal voting documents including ballot papers will not be available until the first week of February at the earliest, the time available for postal voting is very short this time, taking into account the usual postal delivery times. The electoral office therefore advises voters not to vote by post if possible. "For this Bundestag election, we recommend going to the traditional ballot box on election Sunday or collecting postal voting documents from the town hall from the beginning of February," says Martin Holzinger, Head of the Citizens' Office and Deputy District Electoral Officer. Thanks to the installation of voting booths in the town hall, the latter option also offers the possibility of completing the postal vote directly on site. Alternatively, postal votes can also be dropped into the letterbox at the entrance to the town hall until 6 p.m. on election Sunday.

"We have extended the opening hours so that as many citizens as possible can collect their postal voting documents themselves," continued Holzinger. From Wednesday, February 5, the electoral office will be open:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Saturday, February 8 and 15, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Anyone who has not received a polling card or would like to check the accuracy/completeness of their personal details on the electoral roll should contact the electoral office on 09131/86 3300.

Voters have two votes: the first vote and the second vote. They are cast on one ballot paper.

First 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 district election committee for the Bundestag constituency 241 Erlangen met on January 24 and decided on the approval of the submitted district election proposals. The following were admitted: CSU, Dr. Konrad Körner; SPD, Martina Stamm-Fibich; FDP, Leif Erik Persson; GREENS, Paulus Maximilian Guter; FREIE WÄHLER, Axel Maximilian Rogner; Die Linke, Lukas Jakob Eitel; AfD, Robert Aust; Volt, Verena Angelika Liselotte Röckelein.

Second vote

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

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. As the complete postal voting documents including ballot papers will not be available until the first week of February at the earliest, the time available for postal voting is very short this time, taking into account the usual postal delivery times. The electoral office therefore advises voters not to vote by post if possible.

"For this Bundestag election, we recommend going to the traditional ballot box on election Sunday or picking up your postal voting documents from the town hall from the beginning of February," says Martin Holzinger, Head of the Citizens' Office and Deputy District Electoral Officer. Thanks to the installation of voting booths in the town hall, the latter option also offers the possibility of completing the postal vote directly on site. Alternatively, postal votes can also be dropped into the letterbox at the entrance to the town hall until 6 p.m. on election Sunday.

"We have extended the opening hours so that as many citizens as possible can collect their postal voting documents themselves," continued Holzinger. From Wednesday, February 5, the electoral office will be open

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 8:00 to 18:00
• Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and
• on Saturdays, February 8 and 15, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

open.

As the complete postal voting documents including ballot papers will be available in the first week of February at the earliest, the time available for postal voting is very short this time, taking into account the usual postal delivery times. The electoral office therefore advises voters not to vote by post if possible. "For this Bundestag election, we recommend going to the traditional ballot box on election Sunday or collecting postal voting documents from the town hall from the beginning of February," says Martin Holzinger, Head of the Citizens' Office and Deputy District Electoral Officer. Thanks to the installation of voting booths in the town hall, the latter option also offers the possibility of completing the postal vote directly on site. Alternatively, postal votes can also be dropped into the letterbox at the entrance to the town hall until 6 p.m. on election Sunday.

"We have extended the opening hours so that as many citizens as possible can collect their postal voting documents themselves," Holzinger continues. From Wednesday, February 5, the electoral office will be open

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 8:00 to 18:00
• Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and
• on Saturdays, February 8 and 15, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

open.

There are various ways to apply for a ballot paper for postal voting at the electoral office:

• In person at City Hall, 1st floor, small meeting room, from February 5 to February 21, 3:00 pm. Advantage: The installation of voting booths means that postal voting can be completed directly on site
• here online or with the QR code on the election notification by February 17, 11:59 p.m.
• by e-mail to briefwahl@stadt.erlangen.de by February 17
• in writing using the form on the back of the election notification by February 17
• by fax to 09131/86-33 55 by February 17

The postal voting documents must be received by the City of Erlangen by Sunday, February 23, 6:00 p.m. (mailbox at City Hall). By post, please drop them in the Deutsche Post letterbox by noon on Thursday, February 20 at the latest.

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. The results will also be presented in the town hall (1st floor, council chamber).

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.

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 performs the function of election supervisor - 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

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 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

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 Bundestag constituency 241 Erlangen consists of

• the city of Erlangen
• the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt
• the administrative community of 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 electoral authority. This means that all the threads for the Erlangen constituency (241) come together at the electoral office of the city of Erlangen. Thomas Ternes (City of Erlangen) has been appointed as the district electoral officer.

Here: Contact the electoral office of the city of Erlangen

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.

After the Federal Chancellor lost the vote of confidence on December 16, 2024, the Federal Chancellor asked the Federal President to dissolve the Bundestag. The Federal President then dissolved the Bundestag on December 27, 2024 and scheduled a new election for February 23, 2025. The Federal Government provides detailed information on the subject of "early Bundestag elections" on its own website.

Current information on the election of the 21st Bundestag can be found on the website of the Federal Returning Officer.