German Electoral System

One vows on the one hand to the parties, and on the other, to the candidates of the circumscriptions. It is based on the Hare-Niemeyer system, that by means of a complex calculation determines the number of benches of each formation. The German Constitutional Court declared insconstitucional leaves from the electoral law to consider that he distorts the intention of vote. The German electoral system mentioned east Saturday by the socialist candidate Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba like alternative to which it prevails at the moment in Spain, is based on a mixed model made up of two votes, one to the parties and another one to the direct candidates of the circumscriptions. The electoral circumscriptions are unipersonal, so that the candidate who obtains the simple majority of votes in his circumscription, obtains a parliamentary bench. These direct candidates conform half of the parliamentary benches, independent of which it is the result of his respective parties.

The second vote, to a party, decides on the proportional composition in the parliament, following the system Hare-Niemeyer that determines by means of a complex model of calculation, the number of benches of each formation. Nevertheless, the system is not as simple as it seems, because in their eagerness to obtain the possible more perfect democratic mechanism, the parents of the electoral law introduced a series of complicated particularitities that have taken to many controversies. In all the elections a series of additional mandates takes place, that occur when a party obtains more direct mandates of which it would correspond to him by his percentage in the proportional vote. In that case, the party at issue can obtain additional benches, which causes that the number of seats in the Bundestag varies. The problem arises because the main beneficiaries of these additional benches usually are the two main political forces, which puts disadvantaged to the formation smaller. In 2008, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional this part of German electoral law, to consider that he distorts the intention of vote. The court gave to the legislators a term until this year to correct this problem, something that has still not taken place. Source of the news: The German electoral system that it likes to Rubalcaba, a complex model with two types of vote