Electoral board
The electoral board is a body for holding elections in politics and in works and staff council elections .
Composition of an electoral board
The electoral board consists of:
- 1 electoral officer (who chairs)
- 1 deputy electoral officer
- 1 secretary (who keeps the electoral roll)
- 1 deputy secretary
- 2–5 assessors
- Election worker (teller)
Notwithstanding this, the Works Constitution Act regulates the composition of the electoral board in companies, which consists of only 3 people (one electoral board chairman and two electoral boards).
The election officer is not to be confused with an election officer whose authority - in the case of the state election officer or federal returning officer - usually the competent statistical office organizes the election as a whole. The electoral officer directs the entire activities of the electoral committee; in his absence this is done by the deputy of the electoral officer. The majority of all members present decide on resolutions of the electoral committee. In the event of a tie, the vote of the electoral officer decides. Neither the electoral officer nor any other member of the electoral committee is bound by the instructions of the election officer of the next higher body. The electoral officer together with the relevant committee can, however, declare certain decisions of the electoral board to be invalid or temporarily invalid until a decision by a complaints committee.
Political elections
The electoral board as the electoral body
Depending on the election, there are different electoral bodies. The electoral board is one of them. The electoral officer is primus inter pares within the electoral board .
The organs for the federal election are:
- the Federal Returning Officer and the Federal Electoral Committee for the electoral area,
- a state returning officer and a state election committee for each country,
- a district returning officer and a district election committee for each constituency,
- an electoral officer and an electoral committee for each constituency (constituency) and
- at least one electoral officer and one electoral officer for each constituency to determine the postal voting results
The federal returning officer and his deputy are appointed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the state returning officers, district returning officers and electoral officers and their deputies are appointed by the state government. In practice, the state government delegates the task of appointing the electoral officer and his deputy to the municipalities.
There are far fewer electoral bodies in local elections. These are:
- an election officer and an election committee for the municipal elections as well as an election officer and an election committee for the district elections,
- an electoral officer and an electoral committee for each electoral district,
- one or more postal voting officers and postal voting officers.
Admission to the electoral board
All persons who are entitled to vote on election day are permitted to work as election workers in Germany . Depending on the type of choice, this results in a different group of people:
- In local elections : Germans and EU citizens ( Union citizens ) from 18 years of age (in some federal states from 16 years of age)
- For federal and state elections : Germans aged 18 and over (for state elections in some federal states, from 16 years of age)
- In European elections : Germans and EU nationals aged 18 and over
Electoral board for works council and staff council elections
Electoral boards are also appointed for elections for company interest groups ( works council elections , staff council elections). The details can be found in the Works Constitution Act including the electoral code , the relevant staff representation law and the related electoral codes. However, the terms have a different meaning here: The electoral board directs the election in the works constitution and staff representation law in the same way as the election officer in political elections. The electoral committee can then appoint further electoral officers who subsequently work in the polling station on election day, for example, as the electoral committee of the polling station does in political elections.