The electoral campaigning in Baden-Württemberg are now visible. In streets and squares, parties and candidates are canvassing for votes in the 2021 state election. The election day is Sunday, March 14. The state parliament in Baden-Württemberg is elected every five years. Parliament and government are located in the state capital Stuttgart.
The state parliament is the people’s representation in Baden-Württemberg. Anyone who is 18 years or older, has a German identity card and has been registered as a main resident of Baden-Württemberg for at least three months may vote. Those entitled to vote receive an official election notification.
Each person entitled to vote has only one vote. By placing a cross on the ballot paper to the right of the candidate’s name, eligible voters indicate whom they wish to vote for.
The state parliament of Baden-Württemberg currently has 143 members. There are 70 constituencies in Baden-Württemberg. A candidate is elected directly if he or she receives a simple majority of the votes in the constituency. In order to take into account the other votes, additional seats are distributed according to a complicated procedure. In this procedure, only parties that have received more than five percent of the votes statewide are taken into account. In the current state parliament, the following parties have cleared this five-percent hurdle: Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen (Greens), Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP).
The elected members of parliament have important tasks. Among other things, they elect the state minister, the head of the state government. They make laws. And they control the government.
In the state parliament elected in 2016, no party had a majority. Therefore, the Greens and the CDU formed a governing coalition. Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) is the state minister. He is running for office again. Minister of Education Susanne Eisenmann (CDU) wants to get enough many votes this time with the CDU that she can become head of government. That is why there are many posters of Kretschmann and Eisenmann in the streets.
See www.landtag-bw.de News, State Parliament Election 2021, and www.landtagswahl-bw.de
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Impressionen zum Leben in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie. Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL; Mostafa Elyasian 25.02.2021.
