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Persons whose right to vote has been revoked by a judge are excluded from the right to vote.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 vote, of which around 1,000 are voting for the first time.

Read more here

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

The election notifications were sent out in the last week of January. The basis for this was 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.

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, February 23, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. is indicated on the polling card. You will need to bring a passport or identity document with you as well as your polling card. Where is my polling station?

Voting by postal vote

Postal voting can no longer be applied for, the deadlines have expired. If you still have your postal voting documents at home, you should post your completed postal ballot directly into the letterbox at the town hall. Absentee ballots can be posted there until 6 p.m. on election Sunday, February 23. The electoral boards at the polling stations are not allowed to accept ballot papers.

In the event of proven sudden illness, the election documents can still be collected from the town hall by Sunday, February 23, 3:00 pm at the latest. The corresponding application with all important information on authorizing third parties is printed on the back of the official election notification. Election letters can be posted in the letterbox at the town hall until 6 p.m. on election Sunday, February 23. The electoral boards at the polling stations are not allowed to accept election letters.

By the way: 59 general polling districts and 43 postal polling stations have been set up for voting.

Postal voting can no longer be applied for, the deadlines have expired. In the event of proven sudden illness, voting documents can still be collected from the town hall by Sunday, February 23, 3:00 pm at the latest. The relevant application form with all important information on authorizing third parties is printed on the back of the official election notification.

The completed ballot letters must be returned to the town hall by Sunday, February 23, 6:00 pm. The electoral office recommends dropping the completed ballot letters directly into the letterbox at the town hall. Election letters can be posted there until 6 p.m. on election Sunday, February 23. The electoral boards in the polling stations are not allowed to accept election letters.

Counting will take place on election day after the polling stations close at 18:00. The first results are expected from 19:00. They will be presented in the town hall (1st floor, council chamber).

The results can be viewed here from around 19:00 on election day

What else you should know

The Bundestag constituency 241 Erlangen consists of the city of Erlangen as well as

• the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt and
• the administrative community of Uehlfeld (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 threads for the constituency of Erlangen (241) come together at the electoral office of the city of Erlangen.

The election results from the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt and the administrative community of Uehlfeld will be available on the local websites on election day until the time when the City of Erlangen has received all the quick reports:

• District of Erlangen-Höchstadt
  
  
• Uehlfeld administrative community (district of Neustadt a.d.Aisch-Bad Windsheim) - via Neustadt a.d. Aisch - Bad Windsheim district administration office

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.

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