Roderich Egeler
President of the Federal Statistical Office
Press release August 31, 2009
Federal Returning Officer calls for restrictive use of exit poll results
WIESBADEN – In the light of recent events, the Federal Returning Officer has pointed out once again that the premature publication of exit poll results of the Bundestag election is a serious breach of the Federal Elections Act. "No matter whether it's on Twitter or through other information channels, the law is clear: Results of surveys conducted among voters after they have cast their vote must not be published before the polling stations have closed," Federal Returning Officer Roderich Egeler said in a comment on the election forecasts for the Land parliamentary elections in Saarland, Sachsen and Thüringen that were prematurely released on the Twitter micro-blogging platform yesterday. The Federal Returning Officer is in close contact with the responsible Land Returning Officers regarding the recent incidents. Each case will have to be examined individually to see whether the prematurely released figures were really based on exit polls.
The Federal Returning Officer went on to say: "I call on the electoral research institutes which conduct exit polls to handle exit poll results as restrictively as possible." He also stressed that he would underline this point of view in his meeting with representatives of the electoral research institutes concerned even before the Bundestag election. He also assumed that the matter would be addressed in the post-election report that is prepared by the Federal Returning Officer and the Land Returning Officers after each Bundestag election and submitted to the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
In each of the three Länder and at federal level, the premature publication of exit poll results is an administrative offence which may be punished with a fine of up to EUR 50 000. If exit poll results of the Bundestag elections should be released prematurely, the Federal Returning Officer, as the competent authority, will take the relevant legal action.
For further information please contact:
Karina Schorn,
tel: (+49-611) 75-2317,
e-mail: bundeswahlleiter@destatis.de