Postal voting: This is how the application works and these deadlines are important

Preparations for the federal election on February 23rd are underway – and this also includes postal voting. Anyone who cannot or does not want to go to the polling station on election Sunday can also vote by post on the composition of the new Bundestag.

Since reunification, the proportion of people who vote by postal vote has risen steadily. While in 1990 only 9.4 percent of voters cast their votes this way, in 2017 the figure was 28.6 percent. In the Corona year 2021, the number jumped to 47.3 percent.

According to estimates, the proportion of postal voters in the coming federal election will probably not be as high as it was almost four years ago. On the one hand, this is because there is no longer a pandemic raging. And on the other hand, it may also be because the time you have to apply for a postal vote is a little shorter than usual. Keyword: early federal election.

The voting documents, including ballot papers, are delivered by post to households in Germany. In most municipalities, you can also submit a postal vote application online using a QR code. According to the Federal Election Commission in Wiesbaden, all eligible voters entered in the voters’ register will receive an election notification from their municipality by February 2, 2025 at the latest.

All citizens who were registered with their municipality as their main residence on January 12th, the 42nd day before the election, are registered in the voters’ register. Germans who live abroad and are not registered in the Federal Republic but want to vote must apply in writing to the relevant municipality to be entered in the voters’ register.

The election notifications also indicate the respective polling station for voters on February 23rd. Anyone who has not received an election notification by February 2nd should immediately contact the election office at their main residence to have it verified.

In order for a postal vote to be valid, the voting letter must be received by the responsible office no later than the voting day on February 23rd at 6 p.m. Deutsche Post has assured that election letters that are posted or delivered to a post office by February 20, 2025, before the mailbox is last emptied, will reach the responsible voting office in a timely manner. If you want to be on the safe side, you can also hand in the voting letter directly to the office printed on the envelope.