The Union faction in the Bundestag unanimously supported a constitutional complaint against the electoral law reform decided by the traffic light coalition. As soon as the law comes into force, the attorneys-in-fact would file an abstract judicial review complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. Participants at the parliamentary group meeting in Berlin said they want to have it checked to see whether the new electoral law passed by the governing coalition is constitutional. The parliamentary group will also submit an application for an injunction against the entry into force of the electoral law reform, which is intended to reduce the size of the Bundestag from 2025.
In order to file the lawsuit in Karlsruhe, 184 signatures are required – a quarter of the deputies. There are 197 parliamentarians in the Union faction.
The fact that the Bundestag has recently grown in size is due to the overhang mandates. These always arise when a party wins more constituencies than it is entitled to seats in the Bundestag based on the second vote result. So that the majority situation does not change as a result of the overhang mandates, the other parties were given compensatory mandates. The recently adopted new electoral law is highly controversial. In order to permanently shrink the Bundestag from the current 736 to 630 MPs, not all of the first vote winners in the 299 constituencies should move into the Bundestag. What is decisive is the result of the second vote of the parties.
In addition, the so-called basic mandate clause will be abolished. So far, it has ensured that parties get into the Bundestag with the strength of their second vote result if they are less than five percent but win at least three direct mandates. Above all, the CSU and the left storm are running against the reform, for which the changes could have a particularly disadvantageous effect.
In the 2021 election, the Left Party benefited from the old electoral law when it only achieved 4.9 percent of the second votes, but still entered the Bundestag. Because of the three direct mandates she won, she now sits in parliament with 39 MPs. The CSU, which only competes in Bavaria, won almost all direct mandates in Bavaria in 2021, but only just passed the five percent hurdle nationwide. Without the basic mandate clause, she might have to tremble in the coming elections as to whether she can make it back into parliament.