The European Parliament will be elected in Germany on June 9, 2024. The Wahl-O-Mat helps you decide for a party.
For the first time, over a million young people aged 16 and over will be able to have a say in the 2024 European elections. Anyone wondering which party best represents their own views can find out using the Wahl-O-Mat. This free question and answer tool is offered by the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
The Wahl-O-Mat will be available here from May 7, 2024 in the morning.
t-online is the media partner of the Wahl-O-Mat of the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb).
European elections 2024: How do people vote?
In the European elections you only have one vote, which you can give to a party. On the ballot paper you will find all parties up for election with their candidates. With your vote you always choose the entire list.
A total of 720 MPs will be elected to the European Parliament by all European citizens on different days in June 2024. 96 of the MPs come from Germany. All Germans aged 16 and over as well as all EU citizens living in Germany who are sixteen years old on election day are eligible to vote. Germans who live abroad permanently must submit a formal application to be included in the electoral roll before each election.
Postal vote for the 2024 European elections
Anyone who is unable to attend on election day or is on vacation, for example, can apply for a postal vote from the municipality of their main place of residence – in many places this can now also be done online. Submit the application as early as possible; you do not have to wait for the election notification.
What is the Wahl-O-Mat?
The Wahl-O-Mat is a question-and-answer tool from the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Based on 38 theses, you can express your agreement or disagreement by clicking on “agree”, “disagree”, “neutral” or “skip thesis”. After answering all questions, your answers will be compared with the positions of the participating parties. This creates a picture of which of the approved parties comes closest to your own interests.
Party comparison made easy
Since not all topics are equally important for every user, you can weight the theses individually or change your own positions. As a result, you can see directly how the agreement with the parties has changed. You can either select all parties for the evaluation or make a selection.
The party comparison shows you at a glance for each thesis which parties agree on the respective thesis and where there are differences. You can read the positions and justifications of the parties for all theses. If you want to know more, you will find short scientific profiles linked to all parties.
Who creates the Wahl-O-Mat?
The Wahl-O-Mat theses are developed before every election by a team of young and first-time voters, political scientists, statisticians and educators. They are based on the parties’ party and election programs as well as their election statements. The theses developed are made available to the parties in advance, who can then answer them and concretize their point of view.
The Wahl-O-Mat was launched for the first time in the 2002 federal election. Since 2003 he has also been available for state elections and the elections to the European Parliament. Since then it has been used a total of more than 110 million times. The Federal Agency for Civic Education points out that the Wahl-O-Mat is only for information purposes and does not in any way represent a voting recommendation.
