Who can vote in the Bundestag election (eligible voters)?
Article 38 paragraph 2 of the Basic Law and Section 12 of the Federal Election Act (BWG) regulate who is entitled to vote. Accordingly, all Germans who have reached the age of 18 on election day, have been resident in Germany for at least three months and are not excluded from the right to vote may vote in a Bundestag election. Germans living abroad can also take part in the election by applying to be entered in the voters' register in accordance with Section 12 (2) sentence 1 no. 1 BWG. According to Section 13 (BWG), persons who have been deprived of their right to vote by a court ruling are excluded from the right to vote.
All resulting eligible voters are recorded in the electoral register of their home municipality of the 65 municipalities of the Verbandsgemeinde Südeifel. Accordingly, all persons whose main residence was registered under registration law on 12.01.2025 (key date) are entered in these electoral registers - Section 14 (1) of the Federal Electoral Code (BWO) and Section 16 (1) BWO.
Changes of residence from 13.01.2025:
If a person entitled to vote moves their main place of residence and registers with the registration authority at the place of relocation after 12.01.2025, they will only be entered in the electoral register upon application. This application option ends on the 21st day before the election, i.e. at the end of 02.02.2025. This means that people who have moved to the Verbandsgemeinde Südeifel from 13.01.2025 are no longer automatically entitled to vote in the local municipalities of the Verbandsgemeinde Südeifel after re-registering.
These persons can either submit an application for entry in the electoral roll by 02.02.2025 as part of the re-registration process or not submit an application and vote in their old municipality as a ballot box voter or by postal vote.
If you would like to submit the application, you can download a fillable form here: