Election to the Bundestag; submission of an election proposal

The district election proposals are to be drawn up by the parties or individual eligible voters for the respective electoral district (an electoral district consists in principle of a county or an independent city; depending on the population, electoral districts may also consist of several counties or independent cities or parts thereof) and are to be submitted to the district election officer, who is based at the district administration office or the independent city. The district election proposals are examined there. The district election committee decides in a public meeting on the admission of the proposals.

The state list proposals are to be submitted to the state election officer.

Parties that are not represented in the German Bundestag or a state parliament must first notify the Federal Election Commissioner of their participation (see under "Related topics"). The Federal Election Committee must determine their right to participate.

An election proposal for a state list must be signed, among other things, by 1 in a thousand of the eligible voters in the state at the last federal election, but no more than 2,000 eligible voters, if the party has not previously been represented in the Bundestag or a state parliament.

A district election proposal for a direct candidate in the constituency must be signed by, among others, at least 200 eligible voters in the constituency if it is submitted by a party not previously represented in the Bundestag or in a Land parliament or by individual eligible voters.

Relevant publishers offer the forms required for the submission of election proposals. The official forms required for the supporting signatures are issued exclusively by the respective state election officer or district election officer.

The election proposals must be submitted no later than 6 p.m. on the 69th day before the election.