On Sunday, June 9th, the people of Munich will elect members of the European Parliament. Unlike federal or state elections, there are no direct candidates. Voters can only cast one vote to choose a party list.
Which candidates from Munich have good chances?
Only those who were able to secure a promising place on their party’s list can hope to enter the European Parliament. Only Petr Bystron from the AfD succeeded in this: his party nominated him to second place on the list. In addition, only Tina Pickert from the CSU has an outside chance. It is in eighth place, but in the last election in 2019, the CSU only had six representatives despite more than 40 percent. The remaining candidates from Munich are likely to have even less good prospects.
How did the last European elections in Munich turn out?
The European Parliament is elected every five years, the last time this happened was on May 26, 2019. At that time, the Greens achieved the best result in Munich. They came to 31.2 percent, which meant an increase of 11.6 percentage points. The second strongest force in the city was the CSU, which maintained its result of 26.9 percent compared to the 2014 election. The SPD suffered dramatic losses. It lost 14.3 percentage points and only reached 11.4 percent. The AfD (six percent), FDP (5.3 percent), ÖDP (3.6 percent), the Left (3.2 percent), the party (2.7 percent), the Free Voters ( 2.4 percent) and Volt (2.2 percent). The voter turnout was 65.4 percent.
Three Munich residents entered the European Parliament via their parties’ lists: Klaus Buchner (ÖDP), Henrike Hahn (Greens) and Bernhard Zimniok (AfD). Buchner retired from active politics in 2020. None of the three will no longer be members of the new parliament.
Who can vote?
For the first time in Germany, young people aged 16 and over are allowed to take part in such an important election. The same requirements apply to them as to all adults. If you want to cast your vote in Munich, whether in the voting booth or by postal vote, you must be registered in the voters’ register. This happens automatically for all people with German citizenship who had their main residence in the city on or before April 28th and were registered in an EU state at least three months previously.
Citizens of an EU member state can also be included in the Munich electoral register. If you already voted here regularly in the last European elections five years ago, then you don’t have to do anything about it. Anyone who has lived in another EU country in the meantime must reapply for registration by May 19th. This can be done in person at the district administration office (Ruppertstrasse 19, Entrance A, Room 56.14) or by post. The form can be viewed from the page www.muenchen.de/europawahl be downloaded. It should be available there in all official languages of the EU.
According to the Federal Returning Officer, anyone who comes from an EU country and wants to vote there has to take care of it themselves. There are no uniform rules. In some countries, citizens living abroad continue to be registered as eligible to vote (sometimes in a special register for this very purpose). In others, if you have lived abroad for a long time, you will be deleted from the electoral roll. Embassies and consulates provide further information. In the latter, it was often possible to cast a vote in the last European elections in 2019.
How is the election going?
The polling stations in Munich will be open on Sunday, June 9, 2024 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Everyone eligible should have received a voting notification. The polling station responsible for you is written on it. Anyone who has lost the notification can only vote with their ID. You can access the polling station digitally at https://maps.muenchen.de/wahlraumfinder get out.
Is there postal voting?
Of course, you can also cast your vote in the European elections by letter. However, you have to apply for this online, by post (it’s best to use the back of the election notification) or in person. This is possible in the KVR and in all district inspections from May 21, 2024 to June 7 at 6 p.m. If you want, you can hand in your vote and the envelope there.
:How the people of Munich get their postal voting documents
The district administration department will send out notifications for the European elections on June 9th by mid-May. If you don’t want to vote at the polling station, you have several options.
When will the election notification come?
The electoral office in the KVR should already send out the notifications. All eligible voters should have received the letter by May 19th. Anyone who has not received any mail by then should contact the election office ( [email protected] or by phone at 089/23396233).
Who is Muckl?
As was the case for the first time in the state elections, the electoral office is using a chatbot to be able to digitally answer basic questions about the European elections around the clock. The digital information provider was named “Muckl” and can be found at www.muenchen.de/europawahl.