Many foreigners in Germany will be excited to vote for the first time in 2025's federal elections. In 2023 alone, more than 200,000 internationals naturalised as Germans - and reports suggest that this number has soared in the wake of Germany's new citizenship law.
For these newcomers to the German electoral system, a few things may come across as a little bit odd. What's all this about chancellor candidates, why is the Bundestag so large, what's the 'Wahl-o-Mat' and why does it take so long to form a government after elections?
To clear up some of the confusion, The Local asked readers to submit their burning questions on the elections taking place on February 23rd. The questions covered a huge range of topics, from the rise of the AfD to the ins and outs of voting at a local polling station.
For one anonymous reader, Germany's gargantuan ballot papers were the big head-scratcher. In our survey, they asked us: "Why are German voting sheets big enough to wallpaper houses?"
It's a great question, and the answer can tell us a lot about Germany's complex voting system.
Here's what you need to know.
The two-vote system
In elections in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, voters are likely used to picking their preferred party and simply putting an 'X' in the right box. Things work a little bit differently in Germany.
When you pick up your ballot, the first thing you will notice is that it is split in half: one side asks for your 'Erststimme' (first vote) and has a list of names, and the other side asks for your 'Zweitstimme' (second vote) and has a list of parties.
READ ALSO: What to expect when voting for the first time in Germany
The fact that each voter has two votes rather than one is a quirk of Germany's political system. To elect MPs, the country uses what's known as a Mixed-Member Proportional Representation System, or MMP for short.
Under proportional representation, parties receive their seats in parliament based on the share of the vote they receive (above a 5-percent threshold). That means that in a parliament with 100 seats, a party that got 20 percent of the vote would get 20 seats.
Proponents of this system say it is more democratic than other voting systems such as First Past the Post or Winner Takes All, where votes for any losing candidates are effectively thrown in the dustbin. For example, in the UK or USA, the actual number of votes a party receives can be a poor reflection of the number of seats they end up with.
In Germany, however, another preference is taken into account: voters' preference for a specific local candidate. This may be someone from a party you may not normally vote for, but who has proved themselves to be an engaged and effective local politician.
The first vote, therefore, is for your local representative and the second is for the party you like best. Seats in parliament are then allocated based primarily on a party's vote share, but also on the number of 'first votes' specific candidates receive.
While it does give you more choice, it's one reason that German ballot papers can start to look a bit like sheets of wallpaper.
READ ALSO: What foreigners in Germany should know about the voting system
Why are there so many parties?
Another reason for the lengthy voting slips in Germany are the sheer number of parties you can vote for. If you're from a country with more of a two-party system, this can be a huge culture shock.
Scanning the list of options on election day, you may be overwhelmed by choice. As well as parties like the Greens and CDU, you could cast your vote for the single-issue Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei) or even the South Schleswig Voters' Association (Südschleswigscher Wählerverband), which advocates for Frisian minorities.
So why do voters have so many options in the Bundesrepublik? In many ways, this is also due to proportional representation.
Though Germany has its five-percent threshold in place to stop too many parties entering the Bundestag, this is widely considered a fairly low hurdle. That makes it possible for much smaller, less well-funded parties to stand in elections and for newcomers to enter the scene.
READ ALSO: What are Germany's leading political parties' immigration and citizenship plans?
For example, this year the newly founded Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) - a leftist-conservative breakaway from the leftwing Linke party - stands a chance of making it into the Bundestag. In many other electoral systems, this would be unthinkable.
It's also worth remembering that the German constitution was carefully formulated after the Nazi era to balance stability with inclusivity. This means that numerous parties are welcomed, reflecting the full spectrum of German life and society.
All of this contributes to making German ballots the lengthy screeds they are. Though voters may not be thrilled about the extra reading, it's all in the service of furthering democracy.
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