Any German after the age of 40 can stand for the election of the Federal President.
Interesting facts about the days before, during and after the election.
Berlin – In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal President is the head of state, who is generally elected every five years by the Federal Assembly. He is also above the Chancellor, who heads the government. Nominations for candidates can be submitted by any member of the Federal Assembly. Theoretically, every German can be elected as long as he or she has reached the age of 40. In the current election, the incumbent Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the only candidate. He was proposed as Federal President on October 23, 2016 by the SPD chairman at the time, Sigmar Gabriel, and will remain in office until March 18, 2022. He officially announced on May 28, 2021 that he would be available for another five years.
Presidential election – important cornerstones
The election of the Federal President is regulated by constitutional law in Article 54 Paragraph 4 of the Basic Law.
The exact wording:
(1) The Federal President is elected by the Federal Assembly without debate.
Any German who has the right to vote in the Bundestag and has reached the age of forty can be elected.
(2) The office of Federal President lasts five years.
Subsequent re-election is only permitted once.
(3) The Federal Assembly consists of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members who are elected by the representative bodies of the Länder according to the principles of proportional representation.
(4) The Federal Assembly shall convene no later than thirty days before the end of the term of office of the Federal President, or, in the event of premature termination, no later than thirty days after this point in time.
It is convened by the President of the Bundestag.
(5) After the end of the electoral period, the period of paragraph 4 sentence 1 begins with the first meeting of the Bundestag.
(6) Whoever receives the votes of the majority of the members of the Federal Assembly is elected.
If no candidate achieves this majority in two ballots, the candidate with the most votes in a further ballot is elected.
Presidential election - the process
The next federal assembly was convened by Bundestag President Bärbel Bas for Sunday, February 13, 2022.
The election will be held in the Paul-Löbbe-Haus in Berlin's government district and follows a precise procedure:
The President of the German Bundestag convenes the session of the Federal Assembly.
He is responsible for the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the meeting.
If the Federal Assembly does not issue its own rules of procedure, the rules of procedure of the German Bundestag apply accordingly.
The head of state is elected secretly and without prior debate.
The secretaries call out the names of the electors in alphabetical order.
Then they cast their vote.
It is counted, then the result of the election for the Federal President is announced.
The person who gets the majority of the votes is elected.
Re-election is possible once.
If no applicant achieves an absolute majority in the first or second ballot, the relative majority is sufficient in the third ballot: the winner is whoever receives the most votes.
New nominations can also be submitted for the second or third ballot.
So far, three ballots have been required three times: 1969 for Gustav Heinemann (simple majority), 1994 for Roman Herzog and 2010 for Christian Wulff (both achieved the absolute majority of votes).
Presidential election – the procedure after the election
After the vote has been cast, the President of the Bundestag announces the result of the vote count and then asks the person elected whether they accept the election.
The elected person must declare within two days whether he accepts the election.
After a short speech by the person elected, the President of the Bundestag declares the Federal Assembly to be over, since its task has been completed.
The future Federal President takes office as soon as the term of office of the predecessor has expired.
When taking office, a newly elected Federal President takes the following oath: "I swear that I will devote my energies to the well-being of the German people, increase their benefit, protect them from harm, uphold and defend the Basic Law and the laws of the Federation, and fulfill my duties conscientiously and do justice to everyone.
So help me God.” This oath can also be taken without a religious affirmation.