Johann Hahlen
Präsident des Statistischen Bundesamtes
Press release 29 August 2005
Order of parties on the ballot papers
WIESBADEN – Why is the order of political parties on the ballot papers for the elections to the Bundestag on 18 September 2005 not the same everywhere in Germany ? To answer that frequently asked question, the Federal Returning Officer informs as follows:
The content and structure of the ballot paper are defined in Art. 30 of the Federal Electoral Law.
On the right-hand side of the ballot paper, there are the Land lists of the parties, which is relevant for casting the second vote. Their order is determined by the number of second votes cast for them in the 2002 Bundestag elections in the Land concerned. Consequently, ranks no. 1 and 2 on that list have been allocated to the SPD, CDU or CSU in all 16 Länder. In Sachsen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-Württemberg, the CDU ranks 1st, in Bayern it is the CSU, while in all other Länder it is the SPD. List rank no. 3 is occupied by the GRÜNE in nine Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Bremen, Berlin, Hessen, Bayern, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland) and by the FDP in 2 Länder (Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz), while in the five new Länder that list rank is occupied by Die Linke. (until the name was changed by a party conference decision on 17 July 2005 : PDS).
Rank no. 4 on the list is taken by the FDP in thirteen Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Bremen, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen, Hessen, Thüringen, Bayern, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland), by the GRÜNE in two Länder (Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz) and by the party Die Linke. in Berlin.
Rank no. 5 is occupied by the party Die Linke. in eight Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Bremen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland), by the GRÜNE in the five new Länder and by the REP in Bayern and Baden-Württemberg. In Berlin , the FDP ranks 5th.
The order of the subsequent ranks, too, is determined by the number of second votes obtained by the parties in the latest Bundestag elections in the Land concerned. Parties that had no second votes in the 2002 Bundestag elections follow with their Land lists in alphabetical order.
On the left-hand side of the ballot paper, there are the names of the constituency candidates in the order of the Land lists; this is relevant for casting the first vote. They are followed by the constituency candidates of parties without Land lists and of associations of voters or individual candidates – if admitted in the constituency concerned – in alphabetical order.
The attached list gives an overview of the order of constituency candidates and Land lists on the ballot papers within the Länder for the 2005 Bundestag elections.
For further information please contact:
Heinz Christoph Herbertz,
tel: (+49-611) 75-2345,
e-mail: bundeswahlleiter@destatis.de