Press release no. 18/2013 of 2. September 2013
Postal voters should file their applications now
WIESBADEN – It is a good democratic tradition that voters cast their votes personally at the polling station on election day. The Federal Returning Officer points out that voters may also cast their votes by postal ballot. To make sure that the documents are received in time, however, an application for postal voting should be filed as soon as possible.
Those wishing to cast their votes by postal ballot in the 2013 Bundestag Election have to apply to their local municipality in writing or orally (personally) for a polling card to be issued. The application may be sent also by fax or e-mail, but not made over the phone. Many municipalities also provide for an online application.
Those submitting an application for another person have to present a written authorisation. On the back of the voter’s notification, which has already been received by all persons entitled to vote who are listed in a voters’ register, there is a form with which to apply for a polling card and postal ballot documents.
You may apply for a polling card and the documents required for postal voting until Friday before the election, that is 20 September 2013, 6 p.m., and in specific exceptional cases (e. g. evidenced sudden illness) until election day, 22 September 2013, 3 p.m. Those who personally deliver their application at the electoral office will be given the postal voting documents immediately and may cast their votes there and then.
The completed postal voting documents in the official red return envelope have to be received at the municipality indicated on the envelope by election day, 22 September 2013, 6 p.m. at the latest. Postal ballot letters which arrive later cannot be considered when the votes are counted. To make sure the postal ballot letter is received in time, it should be posted in Germany on the third working day before the election at the latest, that is on Thursday, 19 September 2013. Postal voters may also deliver the postal ballot letter personally to the address indicated on the official return envelope or have it delivered by another person. In postal ballot, the voter bears the risk of the postal ballot letter not arriving in time.
The right to vote must be exercised personally and secretly also when the vote is cast by postal ballot. Voters who are illiterate or prevented by a physical handicap from marking the ballot paper, folding it, placing it in the envelope or from posting the postal ballot letter themselves may ask another person for help, provided that certain requirements are met which are stated on the polling card and in the leaflet informing about the postal ballot.
For further information on the postal ballot please refer to the information leaflet which comes with the postal ballot documents and to the website of the Federal Returning Officer at
www.bundeswahlleiter.de → Bundestag election 2013
For further information:
Office of the Federal Returning Officer
tel: +49 611 75-4863
www.bundeswahlleiter.de/contact