State elections will be held in Baden-Württemberg on 8 March. German citizens aged 16 and over are eligible to vote. This is a new development.
Previously, you had to be at least 18 years old to vote. In addition, you must have had your main residence in Baden-Württemberg for at least three months and not be excluded from voting. Another new feature is that voters now have two votes. The first vote on the ballot paper is used to elect the representative for the constituency. The candidate with the most votes is elected directly to the state parliament. The second vote is used to elect the party. Twenty-one parties or lists have been approved.
Who will be elected
There are currently 154 representatives from the Green Party, the CDU, the SPD, the FDP and the AfD in the state parliament in Stuttgart. Initially, there are 120 seats to be allocated. However, this number may increase due to so-called overhang and compensation mandates. This is the case when a party has won more direct mandates than it is actually entitled to based on its share of second votes.
(www.de.wikipedia.org/wiki)
How to vote
Currently, the responsible local authoritysends out election notifications by post, which can be used to vote at the polling station on election day (www.tuebingen.de/1620.html#/46450).
This contains:
– the polling station and opening hours, usually from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
– the election date and voter number
– as well as information on postal voting.
In the 2021 state election, over 50 per cent of voters took advantage of the option to vote by post. Voter turnout was just over 64 per cent. The counting of votes is public.
Different constituencies for Tübingen district municipalities
The state parliament elects the state government. This is expected to take place in May. A legislative period lasts five years. There are 70 constituencies in Baden-Württemberg. The Tübingen constituency comprises the municipalities of Ammerbuch, Bodelshausen, Dettenhausen, Mössingen, Neustetten, Ofterdingen, Rottenburg and Tübingen.
The municipalities of Dußlingen, Gomaringen, Kirchentellinsfurt, Kusterdingen and Nehren belong to the Reutlingen constituency, while Hirrlingen and Starzach belong to the Balingen constituency.
(www.kreis-tuebingen.de/landkreis)
Summary information, also in easy-to-read language, is available on the website of the State Agency for Civic Education:
www.landtagswahl-bw.de/
Further information can be found at:
www.im.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/land-kommunen
www.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilung
www.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilung
By Bernhard Kirschner
tun26012007