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Ballot for the state elections in Baden-Württemberg in March
Photo: R3169 Winfried Rothermel / imago images / Winfried Rothermel
The Bundestag election campaign has long since begun for the Pirate Party.
Or rather the “election campaign before the election campaign”, as Daniel Mönch, their political director, calls it.
It's a fight for signatures.
They have to collect thousands of them by July 12th to be able to vote in the election at the end of September.
The law requires small parties if they were not previously represented by at least five members in the Bundestag or in state parliaments.
Getting the signatures together is a tedious business even under normal circumstances.
In the corona lockdown it is almost impossible.
Information booths in city centers, addressing passers-by or ringing the doorbell - all this seems inappropriate in these times because it increases the risk of infection.
At the moment you only have the option of taking this risk or not taking part in the election, says pirate politician Mönch.
He therefore considers the evidence of the signatures to be an "undemocratic hurdle at the expense of democratic diversity".
The pirates are now calling for the hurdle for the upcoming federal election to be at least lowered - or, for once, to drop completely.
Instead, for example, all parties allowed in the last federal or European elections should be allowed to run again this year.
The pirates are not alone in their desires.
42 parties took part in the 2017 federal election - including a number of small and small parties, from the »Party of Reason« to the spiritual »Violets« to the hip-hop party.
This time the »Liberal-Conservative Reformers« (LKR) want to compete for the first time.
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LKR boss Jürgen Joost
Photo: Soeren Stache / picture alliance / dpa
There are now six members of the LKR in three state parliaments and in the Bundestag - through joining the LKR, but not through elections, which is why it too has to show support signatures.
According to its own information, the LKR has around 1,000 members, too few to collect the necessary signatures for approval in the short time.
For the state election in March in Rhineland-Palatinate, it already failed.
It will be even more difficult for the federal election: According to the current state, LKR federal chief Jürgen Joost calculates that small parties for 299 constituencies require a total of around 59,800 certified signatures for direct candidates and 27,495 for the 16 state lists.
"Without a buffer of ten to 15 percent more signatures, this would be exactly 87,295 signatures, with a buffer around 100,000 signatures," says Joost.
Successful lawsuit in Baden-Württemberg
An almost hopeless endeavor.
The LKR has therefore written a letter to Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) and all parliamentary groups in the Bundestag.
In it, the party calls for the current provisions on signatures to be "immediately lifted, or at least significantly reduced".
The continued existence of parties like the LKR "in their constitutional mandate and in the right to take part in elections".
In the letter that SPIEGEL has received, the LKR also refers to the signature quorums that have already been lowered in various federal states.
On March 14th, a new state parliament will be elected in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.
In order to be admitted to the state lists in Baden-Württemberg, small parties would have had to collect 150 signatures per constituency, a total of 10,500.
For approval in Rhineland-Palatinate, it would have been 2080 signatures, plus 125 per direct candidate.
But the small parties resisted - with success.
In Baden-Württemberg, the parliamentary groups initially refused to lower the hurdle, which is why the Left, the "Party", the ÖDP and the Free Voters jointly filed a complaint.
The ÖDP argued that the restriction of personal contacts made it difficult to collect signatures.
"This clearly meant that there was no equal opportunity for electoral admission," says Guido Klamt, ÖDP regional chief.
The state constitutional court agreed with the plaintiffs, the state electoral law was changed and the threshold was reduced from 150 to 75 signatures per constituency.
After the lawsuit in Baden-Württemberg was successful, the little ones in Rhineland-Palatinate also tried their luck.
Pirates, Volt, the animal welfare party, the left and the climate list put pressure in the state parliament, which ultimately lowered the requirements significantly.
Now, according to the will of the LKR, the Bundestag should follow suit.
In its letter, the party threatens to bring an action before the Federal Constitutional Court if the electoral law is not changed by March 19.
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ÖDP federal chief Christian Rechholz
Photo: Antje Duckwitz / ÖDP
The ÖDP could also imagine taking legal action, says its federal chairman, Chistian Rechholz.
But first they also want to try an appeal to the parliamentary groups and the federal government.
"It is outrageous that a party that has existed for almost 40 years, has over 500 municipal mandates and a member of the European Parliament, has to prove that it is serious about participating in the election," says Rechholz.
The climate list is more relaxed.
The party was only founded last year, this year it will definitely run in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and in the House of Representatives elections in Berlin, participation in the federal election is still open.
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Election poster for the climate list in Baden-Württemberg
Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich
Proof of supporting signatures is "in principle okay," says Beatrice Bednarz, top candidate in Rhineland-Palatinate, "because it is important that the votes do not split up too much".
The signatures ensured that the parties were serious and that not too many parties were voting.
Unlike many small parties, the climate list has so far managed to collect enough signatures, says Bednarz.
However: “If we collect the signatures, we have to have contact with many people on the street.
It feels wrong to ignore the distance rules for democratic participation. "
Bednarz is therefore also in favor of reducing the number of necessary signatures for the time of the pandemic.
But the climate list would be even more important to digitize the process.
At the moment, every supporter has to sign a form, which Bednarz and her party friends then collect.
Very few would send it that this hurdle is too big.
"Regardless of Corona, it would be much more efficient if digital forms were also allowed," says Bednarz.
Until then, the small parties in Germany will probably have to collect many thousands of signatures in pedestrian zones and on front doors.
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