Status: 05/14/2023 00:00
Today is local elections in Schleswig-Holstein. State Returning Officer Tilo von Riegen provides numbers, data and facts – and explains what the various ballot papers are all about.
Municipal councils and district councils will be elected in Schleswig-Holstein this Sunday. According to state returning officer Tilo von Riegen, a total of 2.4 million people in the state are eligible to vote, including 25,000 first-time voters. Just over half – 51.6 percent – of those entitled to vote are women, 48.4 percent are men. There are around 13,000 mandates to be awarded – in more than 1,000 district municipalities, four urban districts and eleven districts. The number of candidates standing in the district and municipal elections in the urban districts has increased further compared to 2018 – to a good 3,900.
Municipal elections and district elections with different ballot papers
Further information
According to von Riegen, the municipal and district elections are basically two independent elections – but they are linked organizationally. There is a white ballot paper for municipal elections and a red one for district elections. In district elections and municipal elections in municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, those entitled to vote only have one vote. In smaller communities there can be up to seven – the ballot paper says how many there can be. Anyone who ticks more than allowed invalidates their ballot paper.
Slightly fewer constituencies
This is what the ballot papers for municipal and district elections look like.
Unlike in state or federal elections, there is no division into first and second votes. The applicants are simply selected and used as the basis for calculation. So if a party or constituency hasn’t nominated anyone, it can’t get votes there either. The number of voter groups has decreased slightly compared to the last municipal election: but there are still more than 1,200. Only one party or group of voters is running in each of the 334 municipalities. There is still an election. “The election will take place normally,” says Tilo von Riegen.
Anyone who has moved to another municipality after April 2 cannot take part in the municipal elections – but they can take part in the district elections if the move took place within the district area.
Vote by letter or mobile
Anyone who has applied for postal voting must have submitted the documents by 3 p.m. on today’s election Sunday at the latest. State Returning Officer Tilo von Riegen has so far seen a “very, very lively” participation in postal voting. Movable electoral boards, for example in hospitals, homes and institutions, should enable elections on site, if necessary even in one’s own room.
Parallel to the district and municipal elections, the mayors in Husum (Nordfriesland district), Büchen (Duchy of Lauenburg district) and Hohenwestedt (Rendsburg-Eckernförde district) are elected in a direct election.
Further information
