Federal elections in Germany (German: Bundestagswahl) determine the members of the German Bundestag (MdB). According to Article 39 of the Basic Law, it generally takes place every four years, on a sunday between 46 and 48 months after a new Bundestag had assembled; However, the electoral period may be shortened in the event of the dissolution of the Bundestag (Articles 63 and 68 of the Basic Law, invoked four times) or extended in the event of a state of defence (Article 115h of the Basic Law). The date of a Bundestag election is set by the Federal President in consultation with the Federal Government and the 16 states. These elections are significant for the federal level, thus also for the election of a president every five years.
The Bundestag electoral law, which is laid down in the , is based on the principle of personalized proportional representation with a five percent threshold. Both winners of the 299 federal constituencies, and at least 299 candidates from party lists in 16 states may win a seat, which would result in 598 seats when a strong Two-party system is in effect. With additional parties shifting proportions, the number of members of parliament had varied significantly and was rather unpredictable. Reunited Germany in 1990 started with 662 seats, then dropped to 603 in 2002. With the two-party system eroding to a multi party system, the number of seats grew to 736 in 2021 as 18.6% won and lost a constituency. The number of seats then was fixed to 630 at the expense of the least successful constituency winners, with 23 getting left out in 2025, and only 276 becoming MdB this way. The 21st Bundestag elected in 2025 is the first to have 630 members, the majority having been pre-selected by their parties, some MdB not standing in any constituency, and some constituencies not represented at all.
The 23 February 2025 German federal election was a snap election, the Next German federal election is expected to be held no later than between January and March 2029.
General
Article 38, paragraph 1, sentence 1 of the Basic Law stipulates that federal elections must be “general, free, direct, equal and secret”.
Universal suffrage means that every citizen of adult age has the right to vote and be elected, regardless of origin, religious affiliation, political opinion or gender. Freedom of choice means that voters should be able to form their own opinions freely and express their opinions honestly. Furthermore, "freedom of choice" means that every eligible voter can freely decide whether to vote at all. Thus, unlike in Belgium, for example, there is no compulsory voting in Germany. Immediacy means that the people entitled to vote elect their representatives directly and are not represented by electors, as is the case, for example, in the election of the Federal President, who is elected by the Federal Assembly. According to the established case law of the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG), equality means for the existing Bundestag electoral law “that all citizens can exercise their active and passive right to vote in a formally equal manner as far as possible and that the votes of those entitled to vote in the proportional representation system not only have the same counting value but also, in principle, the same success value.” Therefore, the counting and success value must not be dependent on property, income, tax payment, education, religion, race, gender, political opinion or electoral districts that are too different in size. An election must be secret to ensure freedom of choice. This means that it must be ensured that no one can learn about a particular voter's decision.
Eligibility to vote According to Article 38, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law (GG), a federal law regulates all details relating to elections. This is the Federal Election Law (BWahlG). According to this law, all eligible voters may vote (active right to vote) and also be elected (passive right to vote). According to Article 38, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law (GG), all those who are German within the meaning of Article 116, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law and who have reached the age of 18 on election day are eligible to vote. One can run as a party candidate – even without being a party member – in the constituency or on the state list, or run as an independent candidate in the constituency.
Germans living abroad are eligible to vote if they have lived in Germany continuously for at least three months after reaching the age of 14 and if no more than 25 years have passed since they left. Other Germans living abroad may only vote if they "have acquired personal and direct familiarity with the political situation in the Federal Republic of Germany for other reasons and are affected by it".
Before the election
Admission to the election In the federal election, on the one hand, direct candidates are elected locally who represent their constituency at the federal level, and on the other hand, parties that are eligible for election via state lists in their respective federal state.
According to Section 27 of the BWahlG, parties that are not already continuously represented in the Bundestag or in a state parliament (based on their own nominations) with at least five members, as well as individual candidates, must collect supporting signatures in order to be able to participate in the Bundestag election.
In each federal state in which the party wishes to run with its own state list, it requires the signatures of 0.1% of the number of eligible voters in the last federal election or 2,000 eligible voters, whichever is lower. To submit a district election proposal, 200 signatures of eligible voters in the constituency are required ( Section 20 (2) and (3) of the Federal Election Act).
List of candidates To elect direct candidates, the parties hold local district party conferences, for which, however, special rules apply: For example, only members who are resident in the constituency and are themselves eligible to vote there are entitled to vote.
Each federal state has its own party lists for election. These are drawn up at state party conferences ("representative assemblies"), with the most promising candidates usually ranked individually for each list position, and only the lower list positions are elected in a joint bloc vote. A certain regional proportionality usually plays a role in the ranking, and for some parties, quota regulations (such as a women's quota) also play a role.
Chancellor candidate
In the federal election, it is not the Federal Chancellor who is elected, but the members of parliament. Nevertheless, the unofficial nomination of a candidate for chancellor before the federal election, which is not provided for in the Basic Law or Federal Election Law, has become established in political practice. Previously, the opposition People's Party (Peasant Party) had chosen this candidate before the start of the election campaign, while the governing party had usually run with the incumbent Chancellor as its candidate. The smaller parties usually nominate prominent "top candidates." These are usually elected by a federal party conference, which also adopts the federal election platform.
The candidate for chancellor often travels abroad before the election campaign, to the USA, France, United Kingdom, Israel, Russia, and the country holding the EU Council presidency. Regarding the trip to the USA, the so-called "presidential minutes" attract attention among the German public. This is the time the American president takes to talk with the candidate for chancellor, which is also seen as an indication of how likely the American president considers a change of government.
There is no set procedure for selecting a candidate for chancellor. Before the nomination, the issue receives considerable public attention, known as the " K Question":
The selection process for the CDU and CSU is determined by the basic constellation of two independent sister parties. In 1979, for example, there was a close vote in the joint parliamentary group between the Minister-President of Lower Saxony, Ernst Albrecht, and the Minister-President of Bavaria, Franz Josef Strauß, over the candidate for chancellor in the 1980 federal election. However, the leaders of both parties usually reach an informal agreement in the run-up to the election. With the exception of 2002 (Guido Westerwelle, FDP), 2021 (Annalena Baerbock, Alliance 90/The Greens), and 2025 (Robert Habeck, Greens; Alice Weidel, AfD; Sahra Wagenknecht, BSW), the smaller parties represented in the Bundestag did not nominate a candidate for chancellor, but only one or two top candidates. Occasionally, splinter parties also nominate their own candidates for chancellor. While Helmut Kohl (CDU) and Erich Ollenhauer (SPD) ran again after one failed candidacy, and Willy Brandt (SPD) even after two failed candidacies, no unsuccessful candidate ran a second time as top candidate after 1983.
Of the 22 candidates for chancellor, 17 were elected chairmen of their parties during their careers; two others, Johannes Rau and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, served only provisionally. Only Helmut Schmidt, Peer Steinbrück, and Olaf Scholz never served as party chairmen. Fourteen candidates for chancellor served as during their careers, and eleven as heads of government of a federal state. At the time of their candidacies, the opposition candidates were four times the chairmen of the respective Bundestag parliamentary group, nine times the incumbent head of government of a federal state, and two times a sitting federal minister.
Election campaign and decision-making aids The local election campaign is usually organized by the constituency candidates themselves, supported (for example, by putting up election posters) by their local party branches and volunteers. In addition, there is usually a nationwide election campaign, which is set by the federal parties.
As the federal election campaign evolves into a media-based campaign, it is increasingly tailored to voters watching on television and the internet, as it can reach more people than street campaigning, which continues, nonetheless. Posters featuring leading candidates and television advertisements are intended to convince citizens to vote for a particular party. According to a study by the Foundation for Future Issues, this campaign advertising on posters and at stands in the city center has almost completely lost its significance in the 2013 federal election campaign and no longer plays a role in the voting decision.
In addition to posters, various discussions with leading candidates from government and opposition parties serve as decision-making aids for the election, for example on television. The print media often also offer short summaries of the respective party manifestos. The same applies to the "" which aims to provide citizens with decision-making assistance based on selected theses. Both the short summaries and the Wahl-O-Mat website save voters the trouble of reading the election manifestos of all parties. Furthermore, there is the opportunity to ask questions to members of parliament on various websites.
Sequence
Election date The provisions of Article 39 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Basic Law on the election of the German Bundestag read as amended by the Basic Law of 16 July 1998 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1822 ), which was first applied in the 2002 federal election:
(1) Subject to the following provisions, the Bundestag shall be elected for a term of four years. Its electoral term shall end with the convening of a new Bundestag. New elections shall be held no earlier than 46 and no later than 48 months after the beginning of the electoral term. In the event of dissolution of the Bundestag, new elections shall be held within 60 days. (2) The Bundestag shall meet no later than the thirtieth day after the election.