There are 299 constituencies in the federal election. But next year some of them will be tailored differently. Saxony-Anhalt loses one constituency, Bavaria gains one. This caused a dispute in the Bundestag.
In the coming federal election there will be one fewer constituency in Saxony-Anhalt. In Bavaria, a constituency is added for this purpose. The Bundestag decided this after a sometimes heated debate.
Memmingen-Unterallgäu is new
In the east, the Anhalt constituency, which includes, among other things, Bitterfeld-Wolfen and Köthen, disappears. The affected voters will be distributed among neighboring constituencies. Six of the remaining eight constituencies in Saxony-Anhalt will be redesigned and partially renamed. In Bavaria, the new Memmingen-Unterallgäu constituency is being created from parts of the previous constituencies of Augsburg-Land, Neu-Ulm and Ostallgäu. There are a total of 299 constituencies in Germany.
The reason is this Population development
The adjustment became necessary because the population development in the relevant federal states and constituencies differed too greatly. According to the current law, the population with a German passport in a constituency may not exceed the average population of all constituencies by more than 25 percent. This is around 240,000. However, the Bavarian constituencies of Augsburg-Land and Ostallgäu, each with almost 300,000 inhabitants, exceed this limit with almost 26 percent each. In such cases, the Federal Election Act requires a new approach.
Union: “The traffic lights are ringing behind closed doors”
The Union sees itself at a disadvantage due to the layout because it also separates the traditionally strong CSU-dominated community of Königsbrunn from the otherwise urban constituency of Augsburg-Stadt. Alexander Hoffmann (CSU) complained that this would reduce the CSU’s chances of winning the direct mandate in question and increase those of the local Green Party candidate Claudia Roth. “The traffic light rings behind closed doors and does what is useful to it,” said Hoffmann. CDU leader Friedrich Merz recently made similar allegations. The head of the CSU regional group in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, spoke of a “peak of audacity”.
The SPD MP Sebastian Hartmann replied to the Union during the Bundestag debate: “Rein in your language.” The change in electoral law is not a manipulation, but rather a “binding to law and order,” said Hartmann, referring to a recommendation from the Federal Returning Officer who suggested this approach. The CSU claims to represent Bavarian interests, but in reality only represents its own interests.
In fact, Roth has never directly won a constituency in Bavaria. In the last election, she finished behind CSU candidate Volker Ullrich and entered the Bundestag via the Green Party’s state list.
Accusations from the AfD
There was also criticism regarding the changes in Saxony-Anhalt, but here from the AfD. The new electoral law deliberately tailors the constituencies in such a way “that it harms the AfD,” said its MP Christian Wirth in the debate. AfD candidate Kay-Uwe Ziegler won the direct mandate for the now dissolved Anhalt constituency in the 2021 federal election.
Björn Dake, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, February 1st, 2024 7:39 p.m