Press release no. 13/21 of 7. Juli 2021

2021 Bundestag Election: live broadcast of the Federal Electoral Committee’s meeting on 8 and 9 July

WIESBADEN – On 8 and 9 July 2021 (9 a.m.) the meeting of the Federal Electoral Committee will be held in the German Bundestag building in Berlin. At this meeting, the Federal Electoral Committee will discuss and decide on the recognition of political associations as parties for the election to the Bundestag on 26 September 2021. As the meeting will be broadcast live at https://www.bundestag.de, its public nature will be ensured despite the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Guaranteeing the public nature of elections is a major prerequisite for developing an informed political opinion in a democracy. It ensures transparency of the elections, thus creating the public’s trust in the proper conduct of the elections. As a matter of course, we ensure this also during the pandemic by broadcasting the meeting of the Federal Electoral Committee live,” said Federal Returning Officer Dr. Georg Thiel.

The Federal Electoral Committee is composed of the Federal Returning Officer as chairperson, eight Committee members and two judges of the Federal Administrative Court.

Like all electoral bodies, the Federal Electoral Committee is not subject to directives but has to observe the relevant legal regulations. Section 2 of the Political Parties Act forms the basis for an association to be recognised as a party by the Federal Electoral Committee. Parties must, for instance, offer a sufficient guarantee of their sincerity in pursuing the aim of taking part in developing an informed political opinion and representing the people, as evidenced by their membership numbers, and their visibility in public.

Upon expiry of the statutory exclusive period on 21 June 2021 at 6 p.m., 87 associations had notified the Federal Returning Officer of their intended participation in the 2021 Bundestag Election. The number of notifications had increased by 24 compared with 2017.

In its meeting the Federal Electoral Committee will also ascertain which parties have been continuously represented in the German Bundestag or in a Land parliament since the last election to the relevant assembly by at least five members on the basis of nominations made by the party itself. These parties will be entitled to submit nominations without being required to submit supporting signatures.

As of the following day, the recorded meeting can be retrieved at https://www.bundestag.de/mediathek. The decisions of the Federal Electoral Committee will also be accompanied live on Twitter: @Wahlleiter_Bund.

More information on the members of the Federal Electoral Committee is available in press release no. 05/21 of 31 March 2021. Constanze Portner has been appointed by the Federal Returning Officer as a deputy member of the Federal Electoral Committee to replace Claudia Gohde of the party DIE LINKE who is still indicated there.

Press office
tel: +49 611 75-3444
www.bundeswahlleiter.de/contact