Der Bundeswahlleiter

Constituency or district returning officer

At Bundestag elections there are constituency returning officers. A joint constituency returning officer may be appointed for several neighbouring constituencies, the Land returning officer shall issue the order.

The constituency returning officers and their deputies shall be appointed prior to each election by the Land government or the agency designated by it. The addresses of their offices and their telecommunication numbers shall be made known to the public.

The duties of the constituency returning officer are, among others:

to appoint the members of the constituency electoral committee and chair the committee
to call for the submission of constituency nominations
to chair and prepare the meetings of the constituency electoral committee
to collaborate on the forming of polling districts
to procure the ballot papers and official forms
to receive and pre-examine constituency nominations
to report the constituency nominations submitted to the Land returning officer and the Federal Returning Officer
to request the agent responsible to remedy any defects in a constituency nomination which can be remedied
to summon the constituency electoral committee after the agent responsible for a constituency nomination has lodged an appeal against a decision taken by the constituency returning officer in the course of the remedying procedure
to forward a copy of the record of the meeting containing the approved constituency nominations and indicating decisions taken by the constituency electoral committee which are deemed questionable
to exercise the right of appeal against decisions taken by the constituency electoral committee whenever necessary
to promulgate the approved constituency nominations
to combine small municipalities and parts of municipalities to form one polling district
to decide on objections to the correctness of the voters’ register and to the withholding of polling cards; to notify all the electoral boards in a given constituency if a registered voter who has already received a polling card has later been deleted from the voters’ register
to prosecute administrative offences as per Section 49 a (3) No 1 a in conjunction with Subsection 1 No 1 of the Federal Elections Act
to establish the provisional election result for the constituency and to report the result to the Land returning officer
to make preparations for the constituency electoral committee establishing the final election result for the constituency
to inform the candidate who has been elected in the constituency and to inform the Land returning officer, the Federal Returning Officer and the President of the German Bundestag on whether the elected candidate accepts or refuses election
to announce the final election result for the constituency.

Further duties in conjunction with the postal ballot (if organized by the constituency returning officer):

to appoint postal ballot boards
to publish the venues and times of the postal ballot board meetings
to commission the postal ballot officer; to brief the postal ballot boards
to provide and furnish a room for the official counting of the votes
to register incoming postal ballot letters
to sort the postal ballot letters and to distribute them among the postal ballot boards
to add the result of the election by postal ballot to the result of the election in the constituency.

Legal bases

Bundestag election: Sections 8, 9, 19, 25, 26, 36, 41, 49a of the Federal Elections Act (BWG), Sections 3, 4, 7, 12, 22, 28, 31, 32, 34 to 38, 45, 66, 71 to 76, 79, 88 of the Federal Electoral Regulations (BWO)

At European elections there are district and urban district returning officers.
The district and urban district returning officers and their deputies shall be appointed by the Land government or the agency designated by it. The addresses of their offices with telecommunication numbers shall be made known to the public.

The duties of the district and urban district returning officer are, among others:

to establish the district or urban district electoral committee and chair the committee
to establish polling districts that go beyond the boundaries of one municipality
to publish the conditions which Union citizens living in the Federal Republic of Germany have to meet if they wish to elect German members of the European Parliament
to exercise the right to lodge an appeal against the decision of the municipal authority concerning objections to the voters’ register and against the withholding of polling cards
to allocate the ballot papers to the municipalities to be passed on the electoral officers, to deliver the official return envelopes and voting envelopes for the postal ballot
examine the election records
to establish the provisional result in the district or urban district and to report it to the Land returning officer
to announce the final election result in the district or urban district
to procure the pre-printed polling cards (unless procured by the municipal authority in agreement with the district and town returning officers), the voting envelopes for the postal ballot, the official return envelopes for the district or urban district and to allocate them to the municipalities
to process the ballot letters, establish the postal ballot result and perform the duties related with the postal ballot listed under Bundestag elections.

Legal bases

European election: Section 4 of the European Elections Act (EuWG) in conjunction with Section 9 of the Federal Elections Act (BWG); Section 5 of the European Elections Act (EuWG); Sections 3, 4 (1), 7, 12 (4), 19 (3), 21 (5), 30, 38, 59, 64, 65, 67 to 69, 81 (1) of the European Electoral Regulations (EuWO)

Last update: October 2011