In the 2020 local elections in Bavaria, you can "accumulate" and "variegate". What does that mean? How to fill out the ballot correctly on March 15th.
- Accumulation and variegation are special features when voting in the 2020 municipal election in Bavaria.
- Cumulating means that one candidate can be given multiple votes .
- Variation means that candidates can cast their votes across party lines .
- Here you will learn how to correctly fill in the ballot papers when voting.
- We send you the most important stories from your Merkur.de * region once a week in our free, local newsletter. Register and receive all information about the election on Monday morning at 6 a.m.
The election of the district councilors and mayors should be unproblematic in the local elections: only one cross - logically - is allowed, otherwise the ballot paper in the local elections in Bavaria is invalid. The election of local elections is somewhat more difficult, that is, that of the city and municipal councils, and above all that of the district councils. A surprising number of voters make mistakes here. We have summarized the most important information here so that you can vote correctly in the election on March 15, 2020.
Diagram of the 2020 local elections in Bavaria: How to correctly fill out the voting slip on March 15th
The graphic shows how you can fill out a ballot in the 2020 municipal election in Bavaria.
© Munich Mercury
Source: Municipal and district election regulations (GLKrWO)
Local elections 2020 in Bavaria: parties and groups compile lists
The parties and groups have put their candidates together on the ballot paper for the municipal councils, city councils or district councils.
The easiest way is to tick a single list. Then all votes of the ticked party or group of voters fall to. But there are also other options to choose from.
Local elections 2020 in Bavaria: That means cumulation
In the 2020 local elections in Bavaria, individual candidates can be given up to three votes . This is called accumulation or "heaping" .
When cumulating , you do not have to adhere to a specific election list , but can focus on specific candidates across various lists .
By accumulating or heaping the candidate on the list of his party "moves forward" and has a better chance of getting a seat - but only within his party. The number of votes a party receives in a city council , municipal council or district council is based on the total number of votes for its candidates.
To give an example of when accumulation or heaping brings something: Even if a candidate is in the last place on an election list, he can move into a committee with a large number of votes.
Important : You can give a maximum of three votes to a single candidate . If there are more than three votes, the entire ballot paper is invalid!
What are the tasks of the district council?
2020 Local Election in Bavaria: Which Ballots Are There?
- Yellow ballot: election of mayor or mayor
- Blue ballot paper: election of the district councilors
- Green ballot paper: election of councilors or city councilors
- White ballot paper: election of district councilors
In Munich, the district committees will also be elected in the 2020 local elections.
2020 Local Election in Bavaria: How Cumulation Works
There are basically several ways to accumulate:
- There are several tick options for each candidate on the ballot paper
- You enter the number of votes to be cast for a candidate ( maximum three! )
- If you add your own candidate on the ballot by hand, you can often add it up by giving your name multiple times . The same applies here: a maximum of three times!
Free choice of lists: What is "pre-accumulate"?
A party or electoral group in Bavaria can also present individual candidates several times on their election list - for example, if they do not get their list “full”. The AfD, for example, has this problem in Bavaria: There are too few candidates to fill city and local council lists.
In such cases, the party can use the pre-accumulation and list some candidates up to three times on its list. If the voter places a cross on a pre-accumulated list , these candidates will receive two or three votes.
Local elections 2020 in Bavaria: what is variegation?
In addition to the cumulation, the 2020 municipal election also includes variegation. For some, the word may sound like a technical term from the cookbook ("Please fillet the schnitzel before it goes into the pan ..."). In fact, it's about shuffling the votes on the ballot.
Bavaria is a so-called free list selection . Anyone who casts their vote is not bound to a specific election list. The right to vote in the Free State provides that voters can distribute their crosses across candidates to multiple lists or parties. It's called variegation .
The verb is derived from French and can be translated as "mix it up" - the voter is made up of his "personal body" of candidates from different parties or groups of voters . If you only check the election list, i.e. the proposed candidates from a single party or group of voters, it automatically receives all the votes of a voter.
Local election 2020 in Bavaria
Promote personal favorites with variegation and accumulation
Ultimately, the local election is not necessarily a choice of parties, but a choice of personality. At the community level, you can vote for those candidates you think are particularly suitable - even if they are candidates for different lists.
In the Bundestag election, the state parliament election or the European election it is not possible to variegate . Otherwise, the principle of “mixing and varying” is allowed in municipal elections in Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia.
When is the ballot paper invalid?
The ballot is invalid in the 2020 local elections if:
- he does not clearly indicate for whom the votes were cast
- it is delivered empty
- the total number of votes is exceeded
- the voter has put additional comments or markings on it
It is forbidden to write your own candidates on a list at your discretion and invalidates the ballot paper. Exception: If there is only one candidate for a district administrator in a district or (as is often the case in smaller municipalities) only one candidate for mayor, there are free spaces on which other names can be written. The same applies if there is only one list for the municipal council to vote for in a municipality.
What if I miscalculated in the voting booth?
No problem: Anyone who prescribes or miscalculates can have the election board give them a new ballot.
What tasks does the mayor have?
In which order are the ballots counted in the local elections in Bavaria?
The polling stations will close on March 15, 2020 at 6 p.m. Then the election workers begin counting the election of the mayors and mayors. Then the district councilors come, followed by the municipal and city councils. Only at the end are the ballots for the district council counted.
Experience has shown that the results for the mayor and mayor election as well as for the election of the district councilors will be announced on election evening. Because the counting for the municipal and city councils as well as for the district council, depending on the size of the municipality, can be significantly more complex, an evaluation is sometimes only carried out on the day after the election.
We have already summarized all information and dates for the 2020 local elections in Bavaria.
Results of the 2020 local elections will be available on Sunday, March 15, 2020 from merkur.de. In advance you will find detailed reports on candidates, lists and all current developments.
