Ballot paper
Ballot (Germany) election map (Austria), voting card or voting pass (Switzerland) are legal terms of the right to vote . In a sense, they are certificates of the right to vote and should not be confused with the ballot paper .
Ballot paper (Germany)
If a person entitled to vote cannot or does not want to exercise his right to vote on election day in the designated polling station , he can apply for a voting slip, either in person at the election authority, by sending the voting notification card or in some municipalities via a website. Likewise, in certain cases, voting slips can be issued for people who are not included in the electoral roll, for example because they are moving shortly before the election. The issuing of the ballot will be noted in the electoral roll. Since 2008, postal voting documents have always been enclosed with the ballot paper ( Section 28 (3 ) BWO ). Without postal voting documents, the voting slip entitles the holder to vote on election day in any polling station in the constituency of the place of residence in the federal election . In the case of the European elections, a voting slip entitles the holder to vote in any constituency in the district or in the independent city in which the voting slip was issued.
The right to vote of a citizen is clear from the relevant regulations and their versions ( federal election law , state election law , municipal law , municipal code ). The factual admission to vote is recorded in the electoral roll. Because of this, the voting notifications are also sent. An entry in the electoral roll entitles you to vote at the designated polling station .
Voting card (Austria)
If the person entitled to vote is unable to go to the polling station assigned to him on election day, he can apply for a voting card. The voting card can be used in Germany to vote at any polling station where voting card voters are accepted. Alternatively, since 2007 there has been the option of exercising voting rights by means of postal voting. The voting cards had to arrive at the responsible electoral authority by the 8th day after the election by 2013, since January 1, 2013, the voting card has to arrive at the electoral authority by the day of the election, but is not counted until the following day. Only then can the final election result be published.
Often there are slight shifts in mandates due to voting cards (2002: a mandate from the FPÖ to the Greens compared to the result on election evening), but so far there has never been a significant change in the result. Traditionally, in national elections, the Greens score better after counting voting cards than on election evening, while the SPÖ and FPÖ lose percentage points (each in a tenth of a percent range). In the 2006 National Council election , 417,486 voting cards were issued.
Voting card, voting rights card (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, citizens who are entitled to vote / vote receive a voting card that is sent to them by the municipality of residence in good time before the vote or election. At the same time, the entitled citizen receives the ballot papers and / or ballot papers, which must be filled out by hand, and explanations of the voting templates . The voting card is either handed in personally at the ballot box or sent to the municipality by letter with the ballot papers. The detailed terms of postal voting are cantonal regulated.
