Volunteer election assistants wanted
The early election to the 21st German Bundestag is expected to take place on 23 February 2025. Although the election date is still provisional, preparations must begin now. For this reason, the electoral authority of the City of Chemnitz is already looking for citizens to volunteer as election assistants. The binding determination of the election day is made by the Federal President in accordance with Section 16 of the Federal Election Act.
What do polling assistants do and who can volunteer?
To ensure that the Bundestag election is conducted properly, an electoral board of up to nine people is formed for each of the 129 general polling districts and 61 postal ballot boards to ensure that voting runs smoothly and that votes are counted in the respective polling station on election Sunday. An electoral board consists of the head of the electoral board, the deputy head of the electoral board and three to seven assessors.
To be eligible for this honorary office, you must have lived in the Federal Republic of Germany for at least three months on election day, be a German citizen and have reached the age of 18.
Activities on election day
The electoral boards meet on election day at 7.30 a.m. at the latest in the polling station for the final preparations. The election supervisor will instruct the members of the electoral board in their tasks and will organise the deployment and break times so that a deployment will generally not extend over the entire day. The polling stations are open for voting on election day from 8 am to 6 pm. Under the direction of the election supervisors, the members of the electoral boards first organise the voting process on election day. By 5.30 pm at the latest, all members of the electoral board will be back in the polling station to prepare and finally implement the determination of the results. After the end of the general voting time at 6 p.m., the electoral board then determines the result in the respective electoral district. Once the results have been determined, the operation is over.
Compensation
The work of an election committee is an honorary function. Compensation is regulated in the "Statutes of the City of Chemnitz on the compensation of voluntary election assistants in elections and decisions" dated 29 August 2017. Accordingly, a refreshment allowance is paid for work on an election committee in accordance with the following overview.
Function | General electoral boards | Postal ballot boards |
Supervisor of elections:in | 50 Euro | 45 Euro |
Deputies:in | 40 Euro | 35 Euro |
Assessor:in | 35 Euro | 30 Euro |
Where can election assistants register?
Interested parties who would like to support the elections by working on an election committee can register digitally via the registration form at www.chemnitz.de/wahlhelfer or via the declaration of willingness that can be downloaded there.
Notes on election deployment:
The electoral authority endeavours to deploy volunteers close to their place of residence. The deployed electoral assistants receive a letter of appointment, which is sent out approximately one month before the election date. The letter of appointment serves as proof of activity. Even if no letter of appointment is initially received, support may still be required. The assignment can still be determined operationally up until the Friday before election day.
The (deputy) election supervisors also receive additional instruction on their tasks during a training session. This will take place in the week commencing 10 February 2025. The exact dates will be communicated with the letter of appointment. The scrutineers will be instructed in their specific tasks and duties by the election supervisor on election day.
Questions can be answered by the electoral authority of the City of Chemnitz on 0371 488-7473 or by email to wahlhelfer(at)stadt-chemnitz.de.