Press

Press release no. 07/2013 of 23. Juli 2013

Germans living abroad must file an application

WIESBADEN – The Federal Returning Officer reports that Germans living abroad will be permitted to vote in the Bundestag election on 22 September 2013 provided that they meet the legal requirements for voting and submit an application for entry in a register of voters. Some embassies and consulates of the Federal Republic of Germany offer a forwarding service for postal ballot documents. German citizens living abroad should directly contact the relevant mission abroad to obtain detailed information. Germans who still have a registered place of residence in Germany need only file a request for postal ballot documents. Both kinds of applications can even now be submitted to the municipal authorities.

  1. Germans permanently residing abroad

Germans as defined in Article 116 paragraph (1) of the Basic Law who are resident outside the Federal Republic of Germany on the day of election, pursuant to Section 12 subsection 2 sentence 1 of the Federal Elections Act, are also eligible to vote if they have reached the age of 18 years on election day and have not been disqualified from voting in accordance with Section 13 of the Federal Elections Act and provided that

  1. after reaching the age of fourteen years (that means from their 14th birthday), they were either resident in the Federal Republic of Germany for an uninterrupted period of at least three months and this stay dates back not more than 25 years or
  2. for other reasons, they have become familiar, personally and directly, with the political situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and are affected by it

Germans permanently residing abroad and no longer having a place of residence in Germany who wish to cast their vote in the 2013 Bundestag election in Germany must apply in writing, using a specific form, for entry in the register of voters of their last home municipality in Germany. Germans who have never been registered in Germany and who could be eligible to vote in accordance with ii. are requested to note the relevant information for Germans residing abroad on the Federal Returning Officer’s homepage at www.bundeswahlleiter.de.

The application must have been received by the competent municipal authority by 1 September 2013 at the latest and should therefore be sent as early as possible.

The application form for entry in a register of voters for the 2013 Bundestag election may be downloaded as a PDF file here: Antrag auf Eintragung in das Wählerverzeichnis und Wahlscheinantrag

and is available as a paper form

  • from all embassies and consulates of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • from the Federal Returning Officer at the following address:

Datenerfassung für den Bundeswahlleiter
Statistisches Bundesamt
Zweigstelle Bonn
Postfach 17 03 77
53029 Bonn
Germany
tel: +49 611 75-8595
fax: +49 228 9910643-8595

or

  • from all constituency and town returning officers in Germany.

Together with their own application forms, applicants may obtain forms for family members, friends or colleagues. Firms and associations may request delivery of the required number of application forms for their staff abroad.

After German citizens living abroad have been entered in the register of voters, they will be provided with the documents required for postal vote (polling card, ballot paper, voting envelope, ballot letter envelope, and sheet of notes for postal voters) without further request but not earlier than roughly one month before election day. The completed postal ballot documents must have been returned to the authority indicated on the ballot letter envelope by election day, 22 September 2013, by the end of the voting hours at 6 p.m. at the latest. Ballot letters received later than that will not be taken into account.

  1. Germans residing in Germany and temporarily staying abroad

Germans who temporarily stay abroad but continue to be registered in Germany will ex officio be entered in the register of voters of their municipality and may cast their vote in the 2013 Bundestag election by postal ballot. They do not have to wait for the voter’s notification, but may even now request in writing (also by fax or e-mail) or in person that the municipal authority issue a polling card. The request may however not be submitted by telephone. The request for postal ballot may also be submitted by completing the polling card application which is printed on the reverse side of the voter’s notification. Anyone filing the request on behalf of another person must submit a relevant written proxy.

 

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