A new state parliament will be elected in Lower Saxony on Sunday. As with most elections in Germany, this happens according to the principle of personalized proportional representation. This means that every voter has a first and a second vote. Here you can find out what the difference is and how to fill out the ballot paper correctly.
The voters in Lower Saxony can make two crosses. With the first vote or constituency vote, they elect a direct candidate in their constituency, with the second vote or state vote, a party. The second vote is decisive for the composition of the new state parliament in Lower Saxony and the balance of power.
Every person entitled to vote in Lower Saxony has two votes in the state elections. These can be distributed on the ballot paper. One vote is cast on the left half of the page, this is the first vote. The other vote is given on the right half, this is the second vote.
In order for the ballot to be considered valid, it must clearly identify a candidate and/or party list. The electoral law does not stipulate that this marking must necessarily be a cross.
Voting secrecy means that it must not be apparent which party you are voting for while you are voting. This means that it must not be visible to the outside where you have placed your crosses. That is exactly what happened to Armin Laschet in the federal election and his vote was still valid. However, you should avoid this mistake. Before and after voting, you are free to decide whether you want to keep your voting decision to yourself or share it with others.
Furthermore, you do not have to sign the ballot paper and you should not do so under any circumstances. If the ballot “contains an addition or caveat,” the vote is invalid. That’s what the federal election law says. So the signature on your ballot paper would be this inadmissible addition.
The first vote determines the direct mandate in the constituency. Whoever gets the most votes there is elected by the population.
The remaining seats are allocated according to which parties had the best second vote results. The second vote does not elect an individual candidate, but the state list of a party. The second vote is decisive for the composition of the new state parliament and the balance of power. This means that the first vote elects a candidate and the second vote elects a party. The second vote is considered a more important vote, as it decides on the majority in the Bundestag.
If a party receives more direct mandates in the constituencies than it would be entitled to based on second votes, it retains these multiple seats. The other parties receive compensation mandates according to their share. The five percent hurdle also applies to state elections.
According to the state parliament, 48 mandates are awarded via the state list, so the state parliament with the 87 directly elected consists of at least 135 members. Anyone who is 18 years of age or older, has German citizenship and has been resident in the federal state for at least three months can vote.
Four parties are currently represented in parliamentary groups in parliamentary groups – SPD, CDU, Greens and FDP. The AfD lost its parliamentary group status after disputes and several departures in 2020. The strongest force is the SPD with 54 seats, followed by the CDU with 50 MPs. Greens and FDP each have 11 seats.
The number of non-attached members is just as high, including a former member of the SPD parliamentary group and a former member of the Green parliamentary group. The Left just missed out on the move with 4.6 percent. The SPD/CDU government is currently the only one of its kind in Germany.
