The Electoral System

Every "x" counts - twice

The people of Baden-Württemberg elect their parliamentary representatives every five years. The right to vote and the right to stand for election are held by all German citizens who, on the day of the election, are at least 18 years old and have lived, had their main residence, or otherwise been permanent residents in Baden-Württemberg for the previous three months as a minimum.

No special qualifications are required in order to become a Member of Parliament. The political parties have the final say when it comes to deciding who is to stand as a candidate for election. What the parties are mainly looking for when selecting candidates at election conferences is the ability to do the job, active involvement in the community and life experience. Ultimately, however, it is the voter who decides on election day which of the parties' candidates receives a mandate to represent them in the State Parliament.

The electoral system combines the principles of proportional representation with a first-past-the-post system of votes for individual candidates. The number of seats in the State Parliament won by the political parties is based on the proportional distribution of votes for the parties (proportional representation). Seats are won by individual candidates according to the number of votes cast directly in their constituencies (first-past-the-post system).

Only constituency candidates can be elected – in other words, every candidate must stand for election in one of Baden-Württemberg's 70 constituencies. In contrast to national elections where voters have two votes, voters in state elections only have one vote which they must cast for a candidate in their constituency. This vote counts twice, however: firstly in deciding how many seats a party gains in the State Parliament and, secondly, in determining which of the party's candidates have won a parliamentary seat.

Each of the state's 70 constituencies has one constituency seat in the Parliament. A further 50 seats go to candidates who, although they have not won on a first-past-the-post basis in their constituency, have attracted the most votes in relation to other candidates from the same party. This arithmetic means that there are at least 120 MPs in parliament in every legislative period. As a rule, however, the overhang seats granted to one party and the adjusting seats which need to be granted to other parties mean that there are usually more than 120 MPs elected to each parliament. The present parliament has 138 MPs. On average, one MP represents around 77,900 inhabitants.