Karlsruhe declares new right to vote partially unconstitutional
The traffic light coalition's new electoral law fails in part in Karlsruhe. The judges declare the deletion of the basic mandate clause unconstitutional.
The Federal Constitutional Court has partially declared the electoral law passed by the traffic light coalition unconstitutional. The deletion of the basic mandate clause is not compatible with the Basic Law, as a notice published on the Karlsruhe court's website states. The rest of the reform remains in effect.
The published ruling is no longer accessible. It was supposed to be announced on Tuesday. It seems to have been prematurely published by mistake.
The basic mandate clause will remain in place for the next federal election, according to the ruling from Karlsruhe. Parties will still enter the Bundestag in proportion to their second vote results if they are below five percent but win at least three direct mandates.
The reform no longer provides for overhang and balance mandates. A party's strength in parliament will now only be determined by its second vote result. Overhang mandates were previously awarded if a party won more direct mandates than it was entitled to based on its second vote result. These mandates could be kept, while other parties received balance mandates in return.
Among those challenging the law are the CDU, CSU, and the Left. A lot is at stake for them: If the CSU were to fall below the five percent threshold nationwide in the next election, it would be excluded from the Bundestag under the new electoral law - even if it won the vast majority of constituencies in Bavaria directly. The Left, on the other hand, only entered the parliament in faction strength in the last federal election thanks to the basic mandate clause.
The court's ruling in Karlsruhe maintains the basic mandate clause for future elections, ensuring that parties can still enter the Bundestag based on their second vote results and direct mandates. The partial unconstitutionality of the traffic light coalition's electoral law has also led to discussions about its implications for parties like the CDU, CSU, and the Left in upcoming elections.
