What are the city council, district committee and mayor actually doing in Munich? Here you will find all information about the 2020 local elections.
- In the 2020 municipal election in Munich, the city council with its 80 seats, the mayor and the respective district committees in the districts are available for election.
- But what are the city council, district committee and OB actually doing?
- We explain this to you in this article.
On Sunday, March 15, 2020, Munich's city council, mayor and district committees will be available for election for the next six years. But what are they doing? What are they allowed to do? What is the difference? Even politically interested citizens often do not know the exact tasks of the head of the city one hundred percent. And as far as city council or district committees are concerned: they have their meetings. But what exactly do they do?
So that you can have a say as an expert in the 2020 local election, we will tell you here exactly what the OB, city council and district committees do - and how they are elected.
2020 local elections in Munich: What are the tasks of the city council and municipal council?
Local election 2020 in Munich: that's what the city council does
The highest body in the city of Munich is the city council with its 80 members . 15 parties and groups will elect their representatives on March 15, 2020 *. They want to get involved in the affairs of the city. And they are enormous: Basically, the city is responsible for all of its own concerns - keyword: local self-government.
As long as it doesn't violate higher laws. But what exactly does that mean? An example: The Munich City Council could not simply abolish or change the alcohol limit at the wheel in the city. According to the motto: Mei, Munich is the beer capital. In future, up to 1.5 per mille will be allowed at the wheel. Which was the case from 1953 to 1966 in Munich (and all of West Germany). With such a decision, the city council would violate a higher law.
Apart from that, there are still enough tasks for the Munich City Council: Do we afford theater? How many places are there? Where do the streets go?
Basically, a distinction is made between voluntary tasks (e.g. sports facilities), mandatory tasks (e.g. fire brigade) and instructions (e.g. resident registration) at the city council . The city has to take care of that. And Munich has a lot to offer: After all, the city is the largest of the more than 12,000 municipalities in Germany - the city-states of Hamburg and Berlin are generally considered to be federal states.
The city comes in third level after federal and state governments. Nevertheless, the city council is not actually a parliament like the Bundestag and Landtag, but a body of the administration .
Local election 2020 in Munich: that's what the OB does
The Mayor , or OB for short, is the Chairman of the City Council and the Chief of the City Administration . At the same time, he is the top representative of the city . He has to implement the decisions of the city council. If he wants or not. However, as is currently the case with OB Reiter, he often has a majority in the city council in which he sets the tone. All information about the OB election 2020 in Munich can be found in our large overview article *.
What tasks does the mayor have?
Local elections 2020 in Munich: that's what the district committees do
The district committees , or BA for short, are the committees of the boroughs - 25 of these boroughs are in Munich.
The 649 BA members are very close to the citizens: this is about parking lots, bench seats, parties - sometimes tough party against party, but mostly unanimous. After all, the local residents themselves know what is best for the neighborhood, often better than the distant city council or the administration. This is why many BAs often make policies against their own party across all party borders.
The BA emerged as an advisory body after the Second World War. Only since 1995 have they been allowed to make their own decisions. That is why they were first elected directly by the citizens in 1996. They have had their own budget since 2001, which they can use to finance neighborhood festivals. They can also decide on projects up to 500,000 euros in the district themselves. Playgrounds, sports facilities - that's what the BA does!
2020 Local Election in Munich: How do I correctly choose the City Council, OB and District Committee?
Each voter has exactly one vote for the election of the Mayor of Munich * . Which is logical. After all, the office can only be assigned once. Whoever has received more than half of the valid votes cast is elected . If none of the candidates succeed, the run-off * will take place on Sunday, March 29, 2020, among the two candidates who received the most votes.
2020 local elections in Munich: how to choose the city council correctly
Each voter has to cast 80 votes to fill the city council - as many as there are city council members. These 80 voices can (almost) be distributed arbitrarily. It is easiest to check the list of a party or group of voters .
However, you can also give a candidate up to 3 votes (accumulate *) - and thus specifically pile up your desired candidates .
You can also support candidates from different parties (breading). In any case, you have to make sure that the total number of votes of 80 is not exceeded - otherwise the ballot will be invalid. If you do not want to distribute all votes among individual candidates, you can also tick a list after selecting your own favorites - this way no vote will be given away.
Local election 2020 in Munich? Which parties run for election to the city council?
From the small parties, they collected the required signatures for their city council list : mut, Munich list, Volt, Together Bavaria (ZuBa) and the Free Alliance for Innovation and Rule of Law (FAIR) .
Eleven parties have been appointed because they are already represented on the city council or in the federal or state parliament. These are CSU, SPD, Greens, FDP, Left, AfD, Bavarian Party, Free Voters, ÖDP, Pink List and the Citizens' Initiative Foreigner Stop .
This will allow 15 parties to stand in the city council election on March 15. Most should make the leap into the local parliament. There is no five percent hurdle. In 2014, a result of 0.7 percent was enough for a place on the city council.
2020 local elections in Munich: how to choose my district committee correctly
The members of the 25 “ district parliaments”, called district committees (BA) , are also directly elected. The candidates for the respective city district are on the white ballot paper. The same rules apply for the election of the district committee as for the city council election. Accumulation and variegation are also possible here. You can only cast as many votes on the district committees as there are BA members.
In the district committees, the ballot papers vary from district to district - accordingly, the number of votes is different. The smallest district committee has 15 members (BA1, Altstadt-Lehel), the largest 45 members (BA16, Ramersdorf-Perlach).
The number of votes for your district is shown on the BA ballot.
Who can vote for the city council, the district committees and the OB in the 2020 municipal election?
In addition to all adult Germans , people with the citizenship of an EU state are also allowed to vote. Specifically means: Greeks, Italians, Poles or Romanians can vote. Not Americans, Brazilians, Russians or Turks. The British are no longer allowed to vote. However, everyone must be registered in Munich for at least two months in order to be eligible to vote. To vote, you must bring the election notification and an ID. If you have lost the notification, your ID is sufficient - but only if it is also in the electoral register.
Local elections 2020 in Munich: When will the results of the elections to the OB, the city council and the BA be known?
The preliminary result of the OB election should be known on Sunday evening . Then it is also clear which candidates will go into the - very likely runoff election on Sunday, March 29, 2020.
In the late evening, the first city council figures should appear, which will then become more concrete on Monday. The results for the district committees are likely to come in the coming week.
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* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network