The new election law - What is it all about?
The local democracy in Germany is in a transition phase. With the new proposal each voter will have more influence on the composition of the local council.
In the traditional way of voting each voter has only one vote. He can support only one party and one candidate.
The main problem is: the rank on the list is decisive for the candidate. A place on top will most likely offer the opportunity to get elected. Thus, the real decision is made within the parties. They enjoy a lot of power.
The new regulations
Each voter will have as many votes as there are seats in the local council. He can elect candidates from different parties.
With each cross he also influences the share of seats which each party will hold in the next parliamentary term.The details of the new law differ from region to region because Germany is a federal state.
In Hamburg the new law was invented by a referendum initiated bottom-up. The regional branch of Mehr Demokratie initiated it.
Experiences
- The voters are using the new opportunities.
- Polls proof: Voters confirm, that they are not overextended.
- The turn-out remains stable.
- The number of invalid votes does not raise.
Reports from Hesse
Reports from two major cities in Hesse are encouraging. A candidate with a low rank needs no longer hope for an exceptional good result to become member of the council: one man in Frankfurt even climbed more than 28 places. But also two women benefited. They were from two German major parties, Christian Democrats and Socialdemocrats and entered the council in spite of having a low rank. Both stated, that they got most of the support in their quarter.
In Darmstadt about 60% of the voters used the new possibilities to split and cumulate votes. This town became regional champion in using the new law.
Turnout was about 50% (higher than the average). 50.000 votes were casts, 30.000 of them contained changes of the ranks.
Only 14% of all Candidates remained the original rank. The extent of the candidate’s fame was very influential. But also young candidates benefited. Surprisingly, the older voters used the new opportunities often (~ 63 %). The young voters used them even more often (~ 66 %) while the generation from 24-45 made less use of the new options.
On 26 March 2006 the next election in Hesse will take place. The voters are ready to support those candidates by whom they want to be represented.
