Model of electoral management

Germany, Federal Elections Act (1993, last amended 3 June 2021), accessed 3 August 2021

Section 8. Organization of Electoral Bodies

(1) Electoral bodies shall be the Federal Returning Officer and the Federal Electoral Committee for the electoral area, a Land Returning Officer and a Land Electoral Committee for each Land, a Constituency Returning Officer and a Constituency Electoral Committee for each constituency, an Electoral Officer and an Electoral Board for each polling district, and at least one Electoral Officer and an Electoral Board for each constituency to establish the results of the postal ballot. The Constituency Returning Officer shall determine how many postal ballot boards are necessary to establish the result of the postal ballot on the same day as the election.

Section 9. Appointment of Electoral Bodies

(1) The Federal Returning Officer and his Deputy shall be appointed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community; the Land Returning Officers, Constituency Returning Officers and Electoral Officers and their Deputies shall be appointed by the Land Government or the agency designated by it.

(2) The Federal Electoral Committee shall be composed of the Federal Returning Officer as Chairman, eight qualified voters appointed by him as assessors and two judges of the Federal Administrative Court. The other electoral committees shall be composed of the Returning Officer as Chairman and six qualified voters appointed by him as assessors; two judges of the Land’s Higher Administrative Court must also be appointed to each Land electoral committee. The Electoral Boards shall be composed of the Electoral Officer as Chairman, his Deputy and three to seven other qualified voters appointed by the Electoral

Officer as assessors; the Land Government or the agency designated by it may order the assessors of the Electoral Board to be appointed by the local authority of the municipality and the assessors of the Electoral Board formed for the establishment of the result of the postal ballot by the Constituency Returning Officer, in the event of an order pursuant to Section 8 subsection (3), by the local authority or district authority alone or in concurrence with the Electoral Officer. Whenever possible, account shall be taken of the parties represented in the polling district when appointing assessors.