Home > 1.3.2.2 Voting procedures > GERMANY - Federal Elections Act
 
 
 
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Section 35
 

Voting by Means of Voting Machines



(1) Voting machines may be used instead of ballot papers and ballot boxes to facilitate the casting and counting of votes.


(2) Voting machines as defined in subsection (1) above must guarantee the secrecy of the ballot. For use at elections to the German Bundestag, their design must be officially approved for individual elections or on a general basis. The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall decide on the approval of a voting machine on the application of the manufacturer. The permission of the Federal Ministry of the Interior must be obtained before an officially approved voting machine can be used. This permission may be given for individual elections or on a general basis.


(3) The Federal Ministry of the Interior shall, by means of statutory ordinance not requiring the endorsement of the Bundesrat (Council of Constituent States), be authorized to issue detailed provisions on:


1. the prerequisites for the official approval of the design of voting machines as well as for the withdrawal and revocation of the approval,


2. the official approval procedure governing the design,


3. the procedure governing the examination of a voting machine for conformity with the officially approved design,


4. the public testing of a voting machine prior to its use,


5. the procedure governing the granting of official permission for the use of a voting machine as well as the withdrawal and the revocation of the permission,


6. the special points that have to be borne in mind in connection with the election as a result of the use of voting machines.


In the cases specified in numbers 1 and 3, the statutory ordinance shall be issued in agreement with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
(4) Section 33 subsection (1), first sentence, and subsection (2) shall apply as appro-priate for the operation of a voting machine.