Roderich Egeler
President of the Federal Statistical Office
Press release August 10, 2009
Order of parties on the ballot papers for the Bundestag election
WIESBADEN – The frequently asked question of why the order of parties on the ballot papers for the Bundestag election on 27 September 2009 is not the same everywhere in Germany is answered as follows by the Federal Returning Officer: “For each constituency, individual ballot papers are printed because different candidates stand for direct election in the constituencies“, says Roderich Egeler. In each Land, the order in which the parties are listed on the ballot papers is the same and depends on the number of second votes obtained by the parties at the latest Bundestag election of 2005 in the respective Land. The other parties follow in alphabetical order.
The content and structure of the ballot papers are defined exactly in Section 30 of the Federal Elections Act. According to that provision, the constituency candidates for which the first votes may be cast are listed in the left-hand column of the ballot paper, while the Land lists of the parties for which the second votes may be cast are listed in the right-hand column. At the top of the list, the order is determined by the parties with Land lists. Their order in the right column of the ballot paper depends on how many second votes the individual parties had won in the respective Land at the latest Bundestag election of 2005.
Rank no. 1 is taken by the SPD in twelve Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Bremen, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Berlin, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Thüringen and Saarland), by the CDU in three Länder (Sachsen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-Württemberg), und in Bayern by the CSU.
Rank no. 2 is occupied by the CDU in nine Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Bremen, Berlin, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen and Saarland), by the SPD in four Länder (Sachsen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bayern and Baden-Württemberg), and by the party DIE LINKE in three Länder (Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen).
Rank no. 3 goes to the FDP in seven Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bayern and Baden-Württemberg), to the party DIE LINKE in four Länder (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Berlin, Sachsen and Saarland), to the CDU in three Länder (Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen), and to the GRÜNE in two Länder (Hamburg and Bremen).
Rank no. 4 is occupied by the GRÜNE in eight Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen, Berlin, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bayern and Baden-Württemberg), by the FDP in seven Länder (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen, Thüringen and Saarland), and by the party DIE LINKE in Bremen.
Rank no. 5 goes to the party DIE LINKE in eight Länder (Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bayern and Baden-Württemberg), to the GRÜNE in six Länder (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen, Thüringen and Saarland), and to the FDP in two Länder (Bremen and Berlin).
The order of the Land lists following in the right column of the ballot paper, too, is determined by the number of second votes won by the individual parties in the latest Bundestag election of 2005 in the Land concerned. Parties which did not participate with Land lists in the latest Bundestag election or for the first time participate in the forthcoming 2009 Bundestag Election follow with their Land lists in alphabetical order.
In the left-hand column of the ballot paper, there are the names of the constituency candidates in the order of the Land lists. The constituency candidates of parties without Land lists and of associations of voters or individual candidates, which have been admitted in the constituency concerned, are listed in alphabetical order at the end.
For the exact order of the constituency candidates as district nominations and of the Land lists on the ballot papers of the individual Länder please refer to the webpages of the Federal Returning Officer on the 2009 Bundestag Election.
For further information please contact:
Karina Schorn,
tel: (+49-611) 75-2317,
e-mail: bundeswahlleiter@destatis.de