Local electoral law (Schleswig-Holstein)

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The local elections in Schleswig-Holstein regulates the local elections in Schleswig-Holstein . The basis is the municipality and district electoral law of Schleswig-Holstein (GKWG).

Municipal and district elections

In the local elections in Schleswig-Holstein, the municipal elections and the district elections are organizationally combined:

  • In the municipal elections, the municipal councils for more than 1,000 municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein are determined. This also includes the four independent cities of Kiel , Lübeck , Flensburg and Neumünster .
  • In the district elections , the district councils in the eleven districts of the country are elected.
  • The direct elections of full-time mayors are also regulated in the GKWG and, for organizational reasons, are often held on the date of the local elections.

In communities with up to 70 inhabitants, no community councils are elected; the community council takes the place of the community council . In local elections, only the district election is carried out in these communities.

Eligibility to vote and term of office

Anyone who is an EU citizen, has reached the age of 16 and has lived in Schleswig-Holstein for at least six weeks is entitled to vote . Anyone who is entitled to vote, has reached the age of 18 and has lived in Schleswig-Holstein for at least three months can be elected. Candidates for election can be proposed as direct applicants both as representatives of a party or a group of voters and as individual applicants. In addition, parties and groups of voters can submit list proposals that will be taken into account in the ratio adjustment.

The term of office of the municipal and district representatives has been five years since the 1998 elections, previously four years. Until 2003, the term began on April 1, so the elections were held in March. The mostly voluntary local politicians complained that “the election campaign had to take place in the winter months and therefore under very difficult conditions”. Since the 2008 local elections, the term of office therefore begins on June 1 of the election year, with elections taking place in May.

Electoral system

Local electoral system

A system of “ personalized proportional representation ” applies equally to municipal and district elections . The number of seats in the municipality or district council is divided into seats for the “direct representatives” and seats for the “list representatives”. Depending on the size of the municipality or the district, the number of seats and the division into "direct representatives" and "list representatives" is determined.

The number of votes per person entitled to vote depends on the number of direct representatives and the number of constituencies that are set up for a municipality or a district (Figure). With a population of 10,000 or more, as many constituencies as there are direct representatives must be set up; only one vote can be cast in each of these constituencies. In smaller municipalities, however, several votes can be cast. It is allowed to distribute the votes to applicants from different lists ( variegation ), but not to pile up several votes to one applicant ( accumulate ). Those who receive the most votes in a constituency are elected as immediate representatives.

The remaining seats ("list representatives") are allocated according to lists to which the candidates can belong. The Sainte-Laguë method is used as the maximum number method for this ratio adjustment. Any overhang mandates that arise will be offset. The previous five percent clause was repealed by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2008.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The direct elections of the district administrators were abolished in 2009: Law on the new regulation of the election of the district administrators of September 16, 2009.
  2. ↑ Printed matter 15/1070 (PDF; 8 kB) of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament .
  3. ↑ 5% clause in local elections in Schleswig-Holstein violates equal voting rights and equal opportunities, press release of the Federal Constitutional Court of February 13, 2008.