Census results of great significance: numbers of inhabitants - Part 1: Bundestag

© Deutscher Bundestag / Arndt Oehmichen

The German Bundestag is elected by the people. It is the most important legislative body in Germany. Currently, a total of 620 members belong to the 17th German Bundestag, which was elected in 2009. These representatives supervise the work of the government, they deliberate and take decisions, for instance, on legal acts, the federal budget and operations of the Federal Armed Forces abroad. The Bundestag also elects the Federal Chancellor.

Not counting overhang mandates, the German Bundestag has 598 members. Half of them are elected directly in the 299 constituencies. This means that 299 Bundestag members have obtained most of the first votes in their constituencies.

To make the election of the people’s representatives as fair as possible, the boundaries of the 299 constituencies are defined on the basis of population numbers (population from the age of 18 holding German citizenship): the average population of a constituency should not deviate from the average population of all constituencies by more than 15 %; if the deviation is greater than 25 %, the legislator has to redraw the boundaries.

The delimitation of constituencies is based on the number of the population as rolled forward since the 1987 Population Census (Federal Republic) and the copy of the former central register of inhabitants of Berlin-Biesdorf as at 3 October 1990 (GDR). However, as time passes since the last population census, this method gradually becomes less exact. To make sure that the data basis remains reliable, it is important to renew it by a census at regular intervals.

For the 2013 Bundestag Election, the legislator has redrawn the boundaries of 32 constituencies. As the number of constituencies in the Länder has to correspond also to their share of the population, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has lost a constituency and Hessen has got an additional one.

For more information on the breakdown by constituencies please refer to the website of the Federal Returning Officer. The entire electoral procedure of Bundestag elections is explained on the website of the German Bundestag.

(Source: bundeswahlleiter.de/en/)

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