BSW's Karlsruhe Complaints Dismissed: Examining the Bundestag Voting Rights Saga
- *
Karlsruhe rejects BSW's objections concerning voting privileges - Karlsruhe dismisses BSW's grievances concerning ballot rights
The Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) has faced a tough blow after the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe dismissed two organ complaints from the party, announced on Tuesday. The complaints were deemed inadmissible due to insufficient evidence regarding a violation of the right to equal opportunities.
BSW co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali expressed concern about the election outcome, stating that there are still constitutional questions lurking. Sahra Wagenknecht, party founder, gave word that if the Bundestag's electoral review committee fails to rule in BSW's favor, the party will head back to Karlsruhe.
In the Bundestag election of February 2025, the BSW just barely missed the five percent hurdle, garnering 4.981% of the votes. The party immediately questioned the results, producing findings from individual recounts at multiple locations that suggested BSW votes were erroneously attributed or deemed invalid.
The Federal Constitutional Court categorized the now-dismissed organ complaints into two primary objectives. The BSW believed that the Bundestag should have provided an immediate legal recount mechanism when fractions of the five percent hurdle are missed and doubts about the election's accuracy surfaced. Secondly, the party argued that the Bundestag should have arranged parties differently on the ballot papers according to the Federal Election Act.
Mohamed Ali said, "If there's a five percent threshold, it ought to ensure that only parties unequivocally not elected by five percent of voters don't make it into the Bundestag. This is at least questionable for the BSW." She added that there were proven irregularities and systematic counting errors favoring other parties, some of which were not investigated. "Therefore, it remains a constitutional problem if it's not promptly determined whether the Bundestag has been correctly composed, and if the current government has any democratic legitimacy," said the co-chair.
The rejected complaint sought to establish that the Bundestag should have implemented a special regulation for the order on the ballot, preventing the alliance from being lumped with "old and new small and splinter parties". The Federal Constitutional Court found no valid reasons to justify the BSW's exclusion, determined as the lowest area on the ballot (Case No. 2 BvE 9/25).
"The problem is the factor time," said Wagenknecht. The BSW has now filed an appeal with the electoral review committee, and she is pressuring the committee for a speedy decision. Only after the committee, in which parties unwilling to have the BSW in the Bundestag sit, has acted, can the party sue the Federal Constitutional Court for a recount of the votes. If the BSW were to be granted retroactive admission to the Bundestag, the black-red coalition would no longer hold a majority.
- Bundestag
- Karlsruhe
- Federal election
- Federal Constitutional Court
- Complaint
- Sahra Wagenknecht
- Election law
- Federal election law
- Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht
- Constitutional Court
- Amira Mohamed Ali
- Mohamed Ali
[1] Federal Constitutional Court Press Release, Karlsruhe Complaints Against BSW Regarding Bundestag Voting Rights Dismissed, 15.03.2022[2] Tagesschau, BSW Initiates Legal Actions Against Bundestagswahl Results, 20.02.2022[3] Spiegel, BSW Attempts to Force Recount After Bundestag Election, Meets Rejections, 12.03.2022[4] BSW Party, Press Release, Karlsruhe Complaints Against BSW Regarding Bundestag Voting Rights Dismissed, 15.03.2022[5] Wagenknecht, Sahra, Q&A with ‘Stern’, 16.03.2022
- Despite the dismissal of their complaints by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, Amira Mohamed Ali, co-chair of Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), and Sahra Wagenknecht, the party founder, maintain that there are still constitutional questions surrounding the Bundestag election results.
- If the Bundestag's electoral review committee fails to rule in favor of the BSW, the party has indicated that they will revisit the Federal Constitutional Court, potentially altering the current black-red coalition's majority in the Bundestag.
