Press

Press release no. 16/19 of 24. April 2019

2019 European Election: application period for Germans living abroad and foreigners from EU countries to end on 5 May

WIESBADEN - Until 5 May 2019 Germans living abroad and citizens of other European Union (EU) states living in Germany who intend to vote here may apply for entry in the voters’ register. The Federal Returning Officer also reports that by this date, all persons entitled to vote in the European election will receive their notification on which the polling station will be indicated where they may cast their vote on 26 May 2019.

Generally, the names of those wishing to cast their votes in Germany in the 2019 European Election have to be entered in a voters’ register.  The voters’ register lists all persons entitled to vote in a polling district. All those eligible to vote who were registered with the municipal registration office of their main place of residence on 14 April 2019, the 42nd day before the election, will ex officio be entered in the voters’ register and receive a voter’s notification.

Germans living abroad who wish to vote in Germany have to file an application for entry in the voters’ register of the municipality where they were last registered before leaving Germany. They have to do so before every European election. The application must be received by the municipal authority on 5 May 2019 at the latest.

More detailed information and the application form are available on the website of the Federal Returning Officer (https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de) under “Antrag auf Eintragung in das Wählerverzeichnis von wahlberechtigten Deutschen, die im Ausland leben und Wahlscheinantrag” and from all missions of the Federal Republic of Germany (only in German).

Citizens of other EU member states living in Germany who had been entered in the voters’ register for the 1999 European Election or a later election to the European Parliament and since then have not been deleted from the voters’ register upon application or because they moved to a foreign country will ex officio be entered in the voters’ register.  They do not have to apply again for entry into the voters' register. All others who wish to elect the German members in the 2019 European Election need to file an application for entry in the voters’ register with the municipal authority of their German place of residence which must have been received there by 5 May 2019.

More detailed information and the application form are available to Union citizens on the website of the Federal Returning Officer under “Antrag für Unionsbürger auf Eintragung in das Wählerverzeichnis” and from the municipal authorities of the relevant place of residence (only in German).

From 6 to 10 May 2019 persons entitled to vote may inspect their voters’ registers at the municipal authorities during normal opening hours. Citizens who have not received a voter’s notification by 5 May 2019 and who think they are entitled to vote should contact the election office of their main place of residence so that their eligibility can be verified.

 

For further information:

Office of the Federal Returning Officer
tel: +49 611 75-4863
www.bundeswahlleiter.de/contact