Court rejects the application for postal voting: Germans abroad remains without voice!

Court rejects the application for postal voting: Germans abroad remains without voice!

A dramatic legal dispute over the right to vote for Germans living abroad failed! A German citizen who lives in South Africa wanted to force to participate in the early Bundestag election on February 23, 2025. However, the Berlin Administrative Court rejected its urgent application as inadmissible, as a spokeswoman for the court confirmed. The background to the event is the shortened period for postal voting - only two weeks instead of the usual six. The plaintiff feared that his election documents would not arrive in Berlin in time due to long postal times, which could endanger the possibility of voting. He asked Berlin and the Federal Republic to take measures to prevent this.

The court made it clear that the constitutional procedure is checked by the Bundestag and can therefore only take place in the election examination procedure after the election. In this case, there were no special circumstances for deviating from this rule. For justified voters abroad, there are opportunities to apply for the postal voting documents. From February 10, 2025, they can be applied for in Berlin or picked up directly on site in a postal voting point to ensure that they can be sent in time. However, voters should take into account the duration of the post in order to be able to hand in their votes in good time, such as the Berliner Service portal explained in detail.

critical deadlines and procedures

The administrative court pointed out that the applicable deadlines for applying and returning election documents can make it difficult to levy in time. Shipping the postal voting documents begins about two weeks before the election day, which means that Germans entitled to vote abroad have to prepare for their applications by February 21, 2025, 3 p.m.

eligible voters abroad can request their postal voting documents online from January 13 to February 18, 2025. For successful voting, it is important to correctly state all the necessary information in order to avoid delays. However, if the documents do not arrive in time, these voters cannot take part in the election, which underlines the importance of these deadlines. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact the Bürger phone 115 to get more information.

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