Roderich Egeler
President of the Federal Statistical Office
Press release July 8, 2009
Bundestag Election: Federal Electoral Committee deciding about recognition of parties
WIESBADEN – The Federal Returning Officer, Mr. Roderich Egeler, has invited the Federal Electoral Committee to convene for its first meeting for the election to the 17th Bundestag. At that public meeting, the Federal Electoral Committee will discuss and decide on the recognition of political associations as parties for the Bundestag election on 27 September 2009. It will be held on Friday, 17 July 2009, at 10 a.m., at Deutscher Bundestag in Berlin, Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus (entrance at Adele-Schreiber-Krieger-Str. 1), room 3.101 (Anhörungssaal).
For the coming Bundestag election, the Federal Electoral Committee will take a decision binding all electoral bodies concerning the following questions:
1. which parties have continuously been represented in the Bundestag or a Landtag since the latest relevant election by at least five members on the basis of their own nominations. Those parties will be entitled to submit nominations without being required to submit supporting signatures.
2. which of the other associations that have notified the Federal Returning Officer of their participation in the election have to be recognised as parties for the election to the 17th Bundestag under Section 2 of the Law on Political Parties. Nominations submitted by these parties will be admitted to the Bundestag election only if the parties are in a position to submit to the relevant Land or Constituency Electoral Committee a certain number of supporting signatures by persons entitled to vote.
Associations that are not recognised by the Federal Electoral Committee as parties for the election to the 17th Bundestag on 27 September 2009 may not participate in that election. Upon expiry of the statutory exclusive period on 29 June 2009, 49 associations had notified the Federal Returning Officer of their participation in the 2009 Bundestag election, as reported already on 30 June 2009 (2005: 55 notifications of participation).
On 17 July 2009, the Federal Electoral Committee will not decide on the approval of Land lists and constituency nominations for the 2009 Bundestag election. That decision will be taken by the competent Land Electoral Committees and Constituency Electoral Committees, respectively, on 31 July 2009. Nominations must be submitted by 23 July 2009, 6 p.m., either as Land lists to the competent Land Returning Officers or as constituency nominations to the competent Constituency Returning Officers.
The Federal Electoral Committee will only decide on possible appeals against the rejection or approval of Land lists by Land Electoral Committees on Thursday, 6 August 2009.
For further information please contact:
Karina Schorn,
tel: (+49-611) 75-2317,
e-mail: bundeswahlleiter@destatis.de
Important notes:
Those wishing to observe the meeting will have to pass security checks before entering the Bundestag buildings and have to show their identity cards. Unless they are permanently accredited with the Bundestag, media representatives will have to seek prior accreditation with the Press Office of the German Bundestag: Deutscher Bundestag, Akkreditierungsstelle, Schiffbauerdamm 17 (3rd floor), 11011 Berlin, tel: (+49-30) 227–329 24 or –329 29.
Representatives of radio and television stations are requested to register with the Press Office by 16 July 2009, 10 a.m.