As of: January 29, 2024, 1:05 p.m
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In a federal election, parties and voters are looking forward to the end of the counting.
But when can you expect the first results?
Berlin – There is a short embargo period for election results in Germany.
While newspapers and television stations ask the Sunday question (“Who would you vote for if there were a federal election next Sunday?”) regularly and also shortly before a state or federal election, forecasts about the possible election outcome are not allowed to be published while voters are still casting their votes .
The assumption is that initial results and predictions could influence voting behavior.
That's why these reports are taboo between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on election day.
First federal election results deliver “exit polls”
The counting of votes cast begins shortly after 6 p.m. on the day of the federal election, immediately after the polling stations close.
This also applies to votes cast via postal voting in the days before the actual election.
Starting counting early is prohibited.
Nevertheless, the television channels and the online editions of the newspapers are showing forecasts as the first results just a few minutes after the polls close.
A poll worker sorts ballot letters.
(Symbolic photo) © Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa
These numbers come from the exit polls.
During a federal election, voting is possible in around 80,000 polling stations.
A post-election survey will take place in around 400 of these restaurants, which will be randomly selected.
After casting their vote, voters receive a questionnaire which they fill out independently and place in a collection box.
The following information is included in the evaluation:
to predict the current election result, the party that was voted for
to track voter migration and which party was elected in the last federal election
Postal voters are excluded from the post-election survey.
The results are relatively accurate because non-voters and undecideds are missing.
Their information is included in the less reliable pre-election surveys.
The first results of a federal election are provisional
When the polling stations close at 6 p.m., the election workers immediately begin counting the votes cast for the federal election.
The first results from the polling stations are not expected until 7 p.m. at the earliest.
The counting of votes takes place in several steps:
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The electoral board determines the number of eligible voters via the voters' register and the number of ballot papers collected (for voters who vote in a constituency other than their own).
The ballot papers are then counted to determine their total number.
The next count records all valid first votes.
In the next step, the helpers record all valid second votes.
The volunteers then record the number of valid first votes per candidate.
The final step is to count the second votes for the parties' state lists.
A constituency is made up of many different voting districts so that every voter can reach a polling station as easily as possible.
The electoral board reports the counting results achieved in the voting district to the municipality via a quick telephone report, which forwards the numbers to the district returning officer.
This transmits the results to the state returning officer, who passes them on to the federal returning officer.
These numbers are preliminary.
The first results of the federal election are only official after an audit
In order for the counting at the polling station to produce an official final result, the minutes must be checked.
In each of the approximately 40,000 polling stations, the election workers create a transcript during the count, which records the entire process for evaluation.
After the federal election, the constituency leader checks every transcript from the local venues in his constituency for plausibility.
If everything is in order, the quick report becomes the official final result.
If the initial results show any abnormalities, the counting of votes in this electoral district must be repeated.
For this purpose, all ballot papers are kept sorted by voting district.
It may take a few days for the evaluation to be completed.
Therefore, it will take some time until the official final result is announced.
Anyone interested can see all the results from 1949 to 2009 clearly presented at the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
The next federal election will take place in September 2025.
The exact date of the federal election is yet to be announced.
(red)