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Traffic light voting rights: Union faction files constitutional complaint
“This electoral manipulation must be stopped”: Alexander Dobrindt. photo
© Kilian Genius/dpa
The traffic light federal election law has been in force for months – and thanks to the CSU and the Bavarian state government, it has long been a case for the Federal Constitutional Court. Now another lawsuit has been added.
Six months after the decision of the In the Bundestag, the Union parliamentary group in Karlsruhe has also filed its constitutional complaint against the new federal electoral law.
“We as the CDU/CSU initiated a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court in December against the manipulation of voting rights at the traffic lights,” said CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt at the request of the German Press Agency on the sidelines of the CSU retreat in Seeon Monastery. The Bavarian state government and the CSU as a party had also already filed a lawsuit with the Federal Constitutional Court.
Criticism of the traffic light voting law
The traffic light voting law only serves to maintain power for the SPD, Greens and FDP, and the will of the voters is massively disregarded, emphasized Dobrindt. “This electoral manipulation of the traffic lights must not be used and must be stopped.”
In June, the Bundestag passed the new electoral law despite resistance from the Union and the Left Party. The reform aims to reduce the size of the Bundestag. With currently 736 members, the Bundestag is the largest freely elected parliament in the world. The new electoral law now caps the number of seats at 630. Voting continues with first and second votes. However, there are no longer any overhang or compensation mandates.
Meaning of the second vote result
In the future, the number of seats a party will have will only be determined by its second vote result. This can result in successful constituency candidates not receiving their direct mandate. The basic mandate clause is also no longer applicable. According to her, parties have so far entered the Bundestag based on the strength of their second vote result even if they were below the five percent hurdle but won at least three direct mandates. For the CSU, which can only be elected in Bavaria, this regulation would mean that it would no longer be represented in the Bundestag if the nationwide result was less than five percent. In the 2021 federal election, their share of the second vote was 5.2 percent.
Regardless of the ongoing lawsuit, the Union called on the traffic light factions to hold new discussions on electoral law reform. After the leaders of the FDP, SPD and Green factions did not respond to a corresponding demand from the Union faction leadership, according to Dobrindt, the issue now lies back with the Chancellor himself.
Union letter to the Chancellor
“Friedrich Merz and I wrote a letter to Olaf Scholz in December in which we once again clearly expressed our willingness to work together with the traffic light to achieve a constitutional right to vote,” said Dobrindt. The letter contains an “urgent request” to Scholz to invite the three traffic light factions and the CDU/CSU to the conversation.