Die Wahl... (the election)...

Campaign Signs (FDP, CDU, SPD from left to right)

This past Sunday, the 27^th of September, Germany held its “Bundestagwahl”, or the election of German Congressional representatives. This election is held every four years and determines which political party will be in power. The Bundestag is the German equivalent of the American Congress. However, they are also in charge of appointing the Kanzler (equivalent to the US President- now Angela Merkel of the CDU) For this reason, the vote on Sunday was very important in deciding the future of the German government.

When voting, Germans have two votes, or “Stimmen”. The first “Stimme” is for their Wahlkreisabgeordneten (Congressmen). This vote is just like in the US, in that whomever receives the most votes, gets to be in the Bundestag. The second vote is a little more complicated. This “Stimme” is for a political party. The number of votes a party receives determines how many Wahlkreisabgeordneten (Congressmen) they can have in the Bundestag. For example if CDU (the most popular party in Germany) receives 33% of the votes then they get to have 33% of the seats. As long as a party has at least 5% of the votes, then they get to be represented in the Bundestag.

This voting system allows several parties (and therefore ideas) to have a voice in the government. In the 2009 election there were 16 parties on the Berlin ballot. They ranged greatly in platform, from the “Tierschutzpartei” (animal protection party) to the “Violetten” (supporters of “spiritual politics”.) But no need to worry, neither of these parties came anywhere near the 5% cut off! There are five main parties in Germany: the CDU (similar to our Republican party), the SPD (think Democrats), the FDP (libertarians), the Linke (a far left party), and Grüne (the environmentalists.)

Here are the results for this years “Wahl” (election):

CDU- 33.8%

SPD- 23%

FDP- 14.6%

Linke- 11,9%

Grüne-10.7%

Other- 6%

In order to have a majority, and therefore real political power, the parties form coalitions with one another. This year, the CDU and the FDP formed a coalition, giving them the majority and therefore allowing Angela Merkel (from the CDU) to be reelected as Kanzlerin!

On Sunday, I went with my host mother (Antje) and host Grandparents (Oma and Opa) to the voting station. The workers there said that this year there was an excellent turnout, way higher then the year before. They were all very friendly, and they not only explained to me how the two vote system works, but they also let me keep a ballot.

Oh, and here is another difference I noticed between US and German elections, there were no campaign signs in yards, or in windows, only large “official” ones posted like billboards along the road. The signs all had the same format, only with a different name or party advertised. I also did not see any bumper stickers. It was as if the parties and not the general public solely ran the campaigning. Interesting…