Elections in Berlin

All Berlin residents who are 16 years and older, hold EU citizenship, have lived there for three months and were registered six weeks before the election[1] are eligible to vote for the districts' assemblies. In order to be eligible to vote for the parliament of Berlin (Abgeordnetenhaus), one has to be 18 years old and hold German citizenship, too. Only those under disability or in psychiatric wards are excluded. Courts of justice also have the possibility to revoke the right to vote.

Elections are held about every five years. The Senate of Berlin decides the exact date of the election for the Abgeordnetenhaus, which is usually the same as for the assemblies of the twelve districts of Berlin. The last state election was held on Sunday, 18 September 2016.

Elections to the Abgeordnetenhaus

The first general, direct and democratic elections to the Abgeordnetenhaus were held in West Berlin on 3 December 1950. On 2 December 1990 the first Abgeordnetenhaus election for all Berlin was held. Since 1979, voters have had two votes: one for a deputy from the 78 constituencies and one for a list, usually a political party. Hence the Abgeordnetenhaus has a minimum of 130 seats, but usually more seats are won. Originally the d'Hondt method was used, but since 1979 the Hare-Niemeyer method is used to determine the number of seats for lists.

Dates of elections to the Abgeordnetenhaus

Constituencies and voting districts (as of 24 September 2010)
Constituencies and voting districts[2]
Nr. Voting district Number of constituencies Change to 2006 state elections
1 Mitte 6
2 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg 6 +1
3 Pankow 9
4 Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf 7
5 Spandau 5
6 Steglitz-Zehlendorf 7
7 Tempelhof-Schöneberg 8
8 Neukölln 6
9 Treptow-Köpenick 6
10 Marzahn-Hellersdorf 6 -1
11 Lichtenberg 6
12 Reinickendorf 6

Within the voting districts the constituencies are numbered consecutively. The constituencies for elections to the House of Deputies (Abgeordnetenhaus) are the same as for the District Assemblies (Bezirksverordnetenversammlungen). Whereas the voting districts are roughly equivalent to the constituencies for the elections to the Federal Diet (Bundestag).

  1. "Informationen zu den Wahlen zum Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin und zu den Bezirksverordnetenversammlungen am Sonntag, dem 18. September 2016" (PDF). The Land Returning Officer for Berlin. July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  2. Örtliche Abgrenzung der Wahlkreise Accessed 8 November 2010.
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