Local election NRW 2020: runoff election, candidates, surveys - the most important information before the election

The 2020 local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia will be the last big election of the year in Germany.

We have summarized all the important facts for you.

• The local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia will take place on September 13, 2020 - we will inform you in the live ticker.

• Mayors, district administrators and various municipal parliaments are elected.

• Despite the spread of the coronavirus, the previously set date applies to election day.

Düsseldorf - The

will be the last major election of the year in Germany.

The most populous federal state with 30 large cities goes to the ballot box.

Who can vote, how does the election work and does the coronavirus cause problems?

We provide answers to these and other questions.

Dates for the 2020 local elections in NRW - first ballot and runoff

set

as the date for the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia

.

Subsequently, there may be a

in the elections for mayors and district administrators

.

If none of the applicants receives more than 50 percent of the votes in the first ballot, the decision between the two candidates with the most votes is made in a runoff ballot.

For this purpose, the second Sunday after the first election day is planned for the municipal elections in NRW - in this case September 27, 2020. However, the municipal electoral law provides that the supervisory authority “can set a different

the runoff election if there are special circumstances A planned abolition of the runoff election in North Rhine-Westphalia, which would have already been valid for this election, was overturned by the state constitutional court in 2019.

At least in one case, however, the local elections have to be postponed because of a death.

On

get an overview of all the results of the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia and also a closer look at the largest cities in the state.

You will receive the election results from Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, Bochum, Wuppertal, Bielefeld, Bonn and Münster separately.

What exactly is chosen in the local elections in NRW?

With their vote, the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia elect various offices for the next

in the 2020 local elections

.

,

and 

 councils are elected

in independent cities

.

In the districts, the voters decide on the

their community as well as the

and the composition of the

.

In the course of the local elections, the

Parliament will also

directly elected

for the first time

.

The committee represents the interests of the Ruhr area, whose four districts and eleven independent cities are each represented with their own representatives.

It is an institution that is unique in Germany.

+

Henriette Reker is the Lord Mayor of Cologne, the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

She will run again in the 2020 local elections.

© AFP / MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK

Who is eligible to vote in the 2020 local elections in NRW?

Anyone wishing to vote in a local election in North Rhine-Westphalia must be at least

 old.

The right to stand as a candidate for election to office requires a minimum age of

.

The requirements for the

also include German citizenship or citizenship of another EU state.

If you want to take part in the 2020 local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, you also have to live in the electoral area or usually stay there since at least the 16th day before the election.

Those who meet these requirements should automatically receive a voting notification with the most important information about the election.

Postal voting and voting notification for local elections in NRW 2020

The

of the

of North Rhine-Westphalia states that the voters must be notified by 23 August 2020 at the latest.

The

voting

not only gives the voter information that he is

registered

as an

voter

.

The records

indicate

which

voters can go to on September 13 to cast their vote.

A change of the polling station must be requested in advance.

If you want to avoid going to the polling station or are unable to attend on election Sunday, you can, as always, use

.

Voters can find all the information they need on their voting notification for the 2020 local elections in NRW.

Important: The documents required for postal voting are not part of the voting notification.

The postal vote must first be requested from the competent authority.

The

ends on Friday, September 11, 2020 at 6 p.m.

In exceptional cases, it is possible to submit an application up to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Most recently, the state of Bavaria had its runoff elections completely by postal vote.

Local elections 2020 in NRW will take place despite the corona virus

The spread of the new

and the threat of Covid-19 disease raised the question of whether the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia can take place as planned.

The state's interior ministry announced in March: "The date of the local elections is currently being held."

At the same time, the ministry assured that

the

 are possible despite the coronavirus, although this is accompanied by the personal presence of numerous party members.

At that point in time, postponing the meetings until at least after the Easter break was described as "urgently needed".

It is not possible to completely forego events at which the candidates for party lists are properly drawn up.

"Alternatives are neither recognizable nor should they be legally permissible," as the Interior Ministry stated.

A fundamental impairment of the local elections by the coronavirus is hardly to be expected.

+

Politicians like Thomas Geisel, Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf, are also experiencing a new challenge in the election campaign due to the corona virus.

© dpa / Federico Gambarini

Which parties run for local elections?

In 2020, too, many small parties and

will stand

for election in individual locations.

In order to be able to participate in the election, they must

.

So who is allowed to do everything has to be shown first.

In principle, the following applies: All lists that were most recently represented on the relevant committee may participate in the election for a municipal representation.

For example, a party that has been represented on a city council since the last local elections can also run for that city council again in 2020.

Participation is also allowed, for example, if the party is represented in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia or if MPs from the party from North Rhine-Westphalia are in the Bundestag.

Anyone who does not meet such requirements must first

collect

signatures.

How many signatures from the population are required depends on the election in which a list wants to compete.

The number of those entitled to vote plays a decisive role.

The collection of support signatures cannot begin until after the deployment meetings.

Since the Corona crisis is causing delays in the process, it can actually be more difficult for smaller groups of voters to collect the necessary signatures for the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in good time.

The signature lists and all other documents must be submitted by July 16 at the latest.

When will the result of the local election be determined?

The

the election can

begin

immediately

.

On September 13, voters can visit the polling station to cast their votes until 6 p.m.

Postal votes are also only counted after the polling stations have closed.

In most local elections, many

of mayor and district

elections are known on the evening of the election

.

Since the electoral system in the municipal elections in North Rhine-Westphalia only allows one vote per ballot paper, the counting of the municipal parliaments can go faster than in some other federal states.

In the previous municipal elections in Bavaria, the counts were partially slowed down by corona protective measures.

These or other delays in the counting of individual elections can always lead to a late result in individual cases.

In the runoff election, voters can usually expect the results of the mayor and district council elections to be known on the same day.

Overall, the CDU had the strongest result in the previous local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Filling out ballot papers - this is how it works

Although the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia will

receive

several

in the 2020 local elections

, the election itself is not complicated.

The same basic rule must always be observed.

Eligible voters are allowed to give

on each ballot paper

.

In the case of personal elections for mayors and district administrators, the votes go to one of the candidates.

In all elections to the city council, district council and municipal council, only one cross is allowed, with which a

candidate for election

and at the same time the reserve list of his party or electoral association is elected.

In the district

election,

an entire

directly

elected

with one vote

.

So that the voting decision is based on solid information, there will be a kind of Wahl-O-Mat for the local elections in NRW in advance in individual cities.

The elaboration lies with various municipal bodies.

Forecasts for local elections in NRW: Surveys can provide clues

General forecasts for the entire state are difficult to make in local elections.

Election decisions often reflect the approval of individual candidates in the community, but are not necessarily linked to a preference in state and federal politics.

As a rule, however, there are concrete clues for the subsequent election result in large cities.

In the 2020 local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, too, it can be expected that surveys will at least shed light on the chances of the candidates in some mayoral elections.

Information on local elections in individual cities

In the weeks before the election, you will find essential information about the election and an overview of the candidates in many cities at merkur.de.

At this point you will find everything about the local elections in Cologne and Düsseldorf as well as in the Ruhr metropolises Dortmund and Essen.

Other major cities that

reports in more detail for you include Duisburg, Bochum, Wuppertal, Bielefeld, Bonn, Münster, Aachen, Gelsenkirchen, Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Hamm, Leverkusen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Oberhausen.

For a quick overview, you will also receive an overview of

in various cities.

• Mayoral candidate in Cologne

• Candidate for mayor in Düsseldorf

• Mayoral candidate in Dortmund

• Mayoral candidates in Essen

• Mayoral candidate in Duisburg

• Mayoral candidate in Bochum

• Mayoral candidate in Wuppertal

• Candidate for mayor in Bielefeld

• Mayoral candidate in Bonn

• Candidates for mayor in Münster