Election Day - Wahlen in Deutschland
Die Wahlkabine
On Sunday is "Bundestagswahl" in Germany. A "Partei" is elected and a new "Bundeskanzler/Bundeskanzlerin” is elected. The "Bundestagswahl" is every four years.
Who can vote?
1. the person must have lived in Germany since June 26. Or longer.
2. the person must live in Munich or any other city. By live here is meant registered.
So the offices know exactly that you live in this city.
3. the person must be "volljährig".
"Volljährig" means: The person must be at least 18 years old.
4.the person must have a German "Pass".
Also people with a full care are "wahlberechtigt".
I am registered in Munich, so I got a “Wahlbenachrichtigung” at the beginning of September. This informs me where the nearest "Wahlraum" is, whether it is barrier-free, and how to get absentee ballots. If I know that I won’t be in Munich on that day, I apply for "Briefwahlunterlagen”.
From 8:00 to 18:00 o'clock one can give two "Stimmen" on a "Stimmzettel".
For this I make a "Kreuz" with the person whose ideology I like best, I think that he represents my "Werte" and I find him suitable as a chancellor. I thus elect this person directly to the Bundestag.
The second "Kreuz" I make for the party, from which I likewise think it represents my values and goals best. In this way, I help determine how many seats the party gets in the Bundestag. The more second votes a party gets, the more seats it has in the Bundestag.
Make a good choice on Sunday and let’s celebrate a good future coming!
How do you vote in your country? Let us know in the comments.
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Vocabulary:
die Bundestagswahl – main election
die Partei - the party
der Bundeskanzler/in – the councellor
volljährig – lit: „full age“, meaning 18 years old or older
der Pass – the passport
wahlberechtigt - entitled to vote
die Wahlbenachrichtigung – the voting notification
der Wahlraum – the voting room/ place to vote
die Briefwahlunterlagen (Pl.) - (documents of) absentee ballot
die Stimme (Pl. die Stimmen) – the vote
der Stimmzettel – the ballot paper
das Kreuz – the cross
der Wert (Pl. die Werte) – the value
die Briefwahl