2022 German presidential election

An indirect presidential election (officially the 17th Federal Convention) was held in Germany on 13 February 2022 to elect the next president of Germany.[3]

2022 German presidential election

← 2017 13 February 2022 2027 →
 
Nominee Frank-Walter Steinmeier Max Otte
Party SPD CDU[a]
Home state Berlin North Rhine-Westphalia
Electoral vote 1,045[2] 140
Percentage 78.04% 10.45%
Nominators SPD, CDU/CSU, Grüne, FDP, SSW AfD

 
Nominee Gerhard Trabert Stefanie Gebauer
Party Independent FW
Home state Rhineland-Palatinate Brandenburg
Electoral vote 96 58
Percentage 7.17% 4.33%
Nominators Left FW, BVB/FW

President before election

Frank-Walter Steinmeier
SPD

Elected President

Frank-Walter Steinmeier
SPD

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the high number of delegates, the meeting took place in the Paul-Löbe-Haus [de], spread over several floors, unlike its usual location in the plenary hall of the Bundestag.[4]

Frank-Walter Steinmeier became the first Social Democrat to be re-elected as president.

Background

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The German Basic Law, the Grundgesetz, mandates that presidential elections must be held no later than thirty days before the sitting President's term ends, unless the presidency falls vacant prematurely.[5]

On 19 March 2017 Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democratic Party, who was elected by the 16th Federal Convention on 12 February 2017, entered office and started his first five-year term as president. Therefore, the next Federal Convention could not convene later than 16 February 2022. The Bundestag's Council of Elders scheduled the 17th Federal Convention for 13 February 2022.[6] If Steinmeier's term had ended prematurely, the Federal Convention would have met no later than thirty days after the start of the vacancy and the President of the Bundesrat would have become acting president in the interim.[7]

Composition of the Federal Convention

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The Federal Convention consists of all the members of the current Bundestag (736 members) and an equal number of state electors, allocated to the sixteen states of Germany in proportion to their population. The state electors are elected by the state parliaments.[7]

The composition of the Federal Convention:[8]

Party Bundestag members State electors Total electors Percentage
SPD 206 185 391 26.56%
CDU 152 199 351 23.84%
Grüne 118 115 233 15.83%
FDP 92 62 154 10.46%
AfD 80 72 152 10.33%
CSU 45 49 94 6.39%
Die Linke 39 32 71 4.82%
FW 0 18 18 1.22%
SSW 1 1 2 0.14%
LKR 0 1 1 0.07%
Other 3 2 5 0.34%
Total 736 736 1472 100%

As is common for the state-nominated delegates of the constitutional convention, a number of non-politicians - some of them celebrities - are nominated by various parties. During the 17th Federal Convention, virologists Sandra Ciesek and Christian Drosten are both among the members as is infectious disease specialist Marylyn Addo, all of whom came to broader public prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Baden-Württemberg, the SPD and FDP (both in opposition at the state level) agreed to nominate a joint list with 13 members proposed by the SPD and 12 by the FDP.

Candidates

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Every member of the Federal Convention (members of the Bundestag and state electors, once they are elected by their respective state parliament) can propose candidates for the presidency. It is required that the President be a German citizen and at least 40 years old. Every candidate has to declare their consent to running. Candidates can be proposed before the Federal Convention and (theoretically) during the convention before every ballot. If the president-elect is a member of a legislature or a government at the federal or state level, they have to resign from that office before the start of their term. A sitting president is not allowed to run for a third consecutive term.[5]

Declared candidates

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Results

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Results[11]
Candidate Party Supporting party First
Votes %
Frank-Walter Steinmeier SPD SPD, CDU, CSU, Alliance 90/The Greens, FDP and SSW 1,045 78.04
Max Otte CDU (suspended) AfD 140 10.45
Gerhard Trabert Independent The Left 96 7.17
Stefanie Gebauer Free Voters Free Voters and BVB/FW 58 4.33
Valid votes 1,339 99.11
Invalid votes 12 0.89
Total 1,437 100
Abstentions 86 5.84
Abstents 35 2.38
Eligible voters/Turnout 1,472 91.78

Notes

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  1. ^ Max Otte was not supported by his party and a party exclusion procedure was initiated because of his candidacy. Otte's party membership was formally revoked after the election in August 2022.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Parteischädigendes Verhalten«: Max Otte nach AfD-Engagement aus der CDU ausgeschlossen". Der Spiegel. 3 August 2022.
  2. ^ "German presidential election: A foregone conclusion in a moment of crisis | DW | 12.02.2022". Deutsche Welle.
  3. ^ "Re-elected German president vows to fight for democracy". AP News. 13 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  4. ^ Hackenbruch, Felix (5 January 2022). "Bundesversammlung wird nicht im Reichstagsgebäude stattfinden". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Germany's Constitution of 1949 with Amendments through 2012" (PDF). Constitute Project. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Deutscher Bundestag - Wahltermine in Deutschland".
  7. ^ a b Grundgesetz: Art. 54 De Jure
  8. ^ "Wahlen in Deutschland". www.election.de. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  9. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Germany's far-right AfD names member of CDU as presidential candidate | DW | 25 January 2022". DW.COM. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  10. ^ Beug, Sebastian (4 February 2022). "Stefanie Gebauer: Wer ist die Kandidatin der Freien Wähler?". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  11. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "German presidential election: A foregone conclusion in a moment of crisis | DW | 12 February 2022". DW.COM. Retrieved 17 February 2022.