source: Libération, published on September 25, 2021
author: Lucie Claudon
translation: GoogleTranslate/ doxa-louise
EPLANATION
German elections 2021: one polling day, but two votes
German federal elections 2021
The citizens of Germany are called to the polls this Sunday to designate the members of the Bundestag who will choose the one who will succeed Angela Merkel.
This Sunday, 60.4 million Germans are called to the polls and, of these, 2.8 million will be able to vote for the first time. As in France, the right to vote is granted to all citizens over 18 years of age; they are thus automatically registered on the electoral listls.
How are elections conducted?
Since 1949, the year of the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, the election has been conducted according to a mixed system of majority vote and personalized proportional representation. Unlike France, Germans citizens have two votes. On the one hand, citizens vote for the candidate for their constituency, who will sit as a member of the Bundestag (the equivalent of the National Assembly). In all, 299 parliamentarians are elected at the end of a uninominal vote by simple majority, said by "the first vote": the candidate obtaining the most votes, even without an absolute majority, is elected.
On the other hand, voters vote for parties, represented by national lists. This second vote is the most important because it defines the proportional distribution of the total number of seats in the Bundestag. Votes can be taken either by post or at a polling station.
The parties having access to Parliament are only those who obtained at least 5% of all the second votes. In theory, the Parliament consists of 598 members, but it happens that certain parties obtain more members by the direct way than by the proportional one. The number of seats is then increased. Since 2017, 709 MPs have been sitting. They are the ones who elect the chancellor, whose mandate lasts 4 years.
Who is in the running?
A total of 47 parties present 6,211 candidates, either on party lists or individually in constituencies across Germany. The six main parties which hope to share the seats in the Bundestag are the CDU (Christian Democrats), the SPD (Social Democrats) - the two great historic parties -, the environmentalists of Die Grünen (The Greens), the populist movement of extreme right (AfD), the liberals (FDP) and the radical left party Die Linke.
When will we know the future chancellor?
The parties are led to form coalitions at the end of the results, except if they obtain an absolute majority. This last happened in 1961. The Christian Democrats then won 50.2% of the vote and 270 seats. The time for negotiations can be long. After the 2017 elections, Angela Merkel's last term in office, it took her 117 days to arrive at a so-called black-red-yellow coalition (re party colors), which brings together the Social Democrats (SPD) and the liberals (FDP). Which makes local prognosticators say that Angela Merkel could stay in the chancellery ... until Christmas .
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