Democratic Election Laws (1990)

Law amending and supplementing the constitution of the German Democratic Republic

In accordance with Article 63 and Article 106 of the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic, the People’s Chamber shall adopt the following amendments and additions to the Constitution:

Section 1.

Article 3 is repealed.

Section 3 of the East German constitution granted power to the National Front, which was a government institution dominated by the communists and which controlled the candidates nominated for seats in the parliament.

Section 2.

Article 22 (3) is amended as follows:

“(3) Elections shall be held under public control and shall be conducted by democratically constituted election commissions.”

Paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 are added to Article 22:

“(4) Foreign citizens and stateless persons residing in the German Democratic Republic shall have the right to vote for district assemblies, city council assemblies, city district assemblies, and municipal councils. (5) Further details shall be regulated by the election laws.”

Section 3.

Article 54 is amended as follows:

“The People’s Chamber shall consist of 400 deputies elected by the people for a term of 4 years by free, universal, equal, direct and secret suffrage.”

Section 4.

This law shall enter into force on February 20, 1990.

The foregoing law, passed by the People’s Chamber of the German Democratic Republic on the twentieth day of February nineteen hundred and ninety, is hereby promulgated.

Berlin, the twenty-second of February nineteen hundred and ninety

Prof. Dr. Gerlach
The Acting Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic

Law amending the constitution of the German Democratic Republic

In accordance with Article 63 and Article 106 of the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic, the People’s Chamber adopts the following amendment to the Constitution:

Section 1.

Article 23(1) shall be replaced by the following:

“Every citizen is obligated to serve and perform for the defense of the German Democratic Republic or to civilian service in accordance with the legal provisions, laws and regulations.”

Section 2.

This law shall enter into force upon its publication.

The foregoing, adopted by the People’s Chamber of the German Democratic Republic on the twentieth day of February nineteen hundred and ninety is hereby promulgated.

Berlin, the twenty-second of February nineteen hundred and ninety

Prof. Dr. Gerlach
The Acting Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic

Law on the Elections to the People’s Chamber of the German Democratic Republic on March 18, 1990

Chapter 1. Electoral principles and electoral system

Section 1.

Elections to the People’s Chamber shall be held on the basis of the of the Constitution of the GDR, this electoral law and the electoral and the electoral regulations issued in connection therewith.

The People’s Chamber shall consist of 400 deputies.

Section 2.

The members of the People’s Chamber shall be elected by free, universal, equal, direct and secret ballot by the citizens of the GDR who are entitled to vote (hereinafter referred to as citizens) for a period of four years.

The exercise of the right to vote shall be based on the free decision of the voter (hereinafter referred to as voter).

Section 3.

Every citizen of the GDR who has reached the age of 18 on election day is entitled to vote in elections to the People’s Chamber.

Not entitled to vote shall be:

  1. who is legally incapacitated,
  2. who have been deprived of their civic rights as a result of a final judgment.

The right to vote shall be suspended in the case of citizens who are under temporary guardianship or infirmity care on account of mental illness or serious personality defects of pathological value or intellectual impairment. The same shall apply to citizens who, for the same reasons, are confined for an indefinite period to an institution for the mentally ill on the basis of the legislation in force.

Section 4.

Every citizen of the GDR who has reached the age of 18 on election day may be elected to the People’s Chamber.

Not eligible is:

  1. anyone who is not entitled to vote pursuant to 3, paragraph 2, or whose right to vote is suspended pursuant to 3, paragraph 3,
  2. who has been legally sentenced to a penalty involving deprivation of liberty and this penalty has not yet been executed.
Section 5.

The election shall be conducted in accordance with the principles of proportional representation.

Each voter shall have one vote, which he shall cast for one list.

The unification of several parties or other political associations into one list shall be permissible. A party or other political association may participate in only one list association. List associations shall apply to all constituencies and shall exclude independent lists of the participating parties or other political. associations.

List associations shall be considered as one list for the purpose of seat allocation.

Constituency lists of the same party, other political association or list association shall be considered joined at the Republic level.

Chapter 2. Election preparation

Section 6.

The electoral area shall be divided into 15 constituencies. Each constituency shall be assigned a number.

The division of the electoral territory into constituencies and the respective possible number of candidates to be nominated for a list shall be as set forth in the Annex to this Act.

Section 7.

The electoral commission of each electoral district shall determine the voting districts and the polling stations.

A voting district shall not exceed 1500 eligible voters, but shall not be so small as to jeopardize the secrecy of voting.

The formation of voting districts shall be announced not later than February 24, 1990.

It shall be possible to form voting districts for citizens entitled to vote who are working abroad on behalf of the GDR and for their dependents entitled to vote whose principal place of residence is in the GDR.

Section 8.

Election proposals may be submitted by parties and other political associations that wish to influence the political decision-making process in the GDR permanently or for a longer period of time and to participate in the representation of the people in the People’s Chamber. Candidates may not belong to another party or political association participating in the election.

Parties or other political associations which pursue fascist, militarist or anti-humanist aims, or which express or spread hatred of religion, race or people, or which discriminate against persons and groups on the basis of their nationality, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation or physical or mental handicaps, or which seek to achieve their aims by force or the threat of force, shall be excluded from the election. The decision on this shall be made by the five-person presidium of the Election Commission of the GDR.

The parties, other political associations or list associations shall nominate their candidates for the individual constituencies in a binding order of precedence.

Candidacy on the list of a party or other political association or list association shall be permitted only in one constituency.

Section 9.

A candidate may only be nominated if he or she has received the vote of confidence of the majority present at a meeting of members or representatives of the party or other political association at which a quorum is present.

Section 10.

The Election Commission shall call for the submission of election proposals by public notice on February 22, 1990.

The parties and other political associations wishing to stand for election shall notify the Election Commission in writing by 26 February 1990 through their central management bodies. The parties and other political associations wishing to stand for election shall notify the GDR Election Commission in writing through their central management bodies by 26 February 1990. The program and statute of the party or other political association shall be attached to this notification.

The intention to join a list shall be declared in writing to the Electoral Commission of the GDR by the central management bodies of all parties involved in the list by 26 February 1990 at the latest.

Section 11.

The election proposals shall be submitted to the election commissions of the electoral districts by February 28, 1990.

The election proposals shall contain:

  1. the full name of the party, other political association or list association and the common abbreviated designation in letters,
  2. the candidates in binding order
  3. the signatures of at least three authorized representatives of the central representatives of the central governing body (executive committee),
  4. personal data of the candidate: Surnames and first names, year and place of birth, profession and current activity, residential address,
  5. written declaration of the candidate that he/she agrees with his/her nomination and that there is no legal obstacle to his/her candidacy,
  6. the certificate of the local council competent for the candidate’s place of residence on the candidate’s eligibility.

The election proposals shall be accompanied by the minutes of the election of the candidates at the meeting of members or representatives of the party or other political association with a quorum.

Section 12.

For each constituency proposal, the respective party, other political association and list association shall nominate a person of trust and a deputy.

They are authorized to make and receive binding declarations on the constituency nominations.

Section 13.

The election proposals submitted shall be examined by the election commission of the electoral district within three days.

The election proposals meeting the legal requirements shall be registered by the election commission of the electoral district.

If the election proposals pursuant to § 11, paragraph 2 contain deficiencies, the Election Commission shall immediately notify the responsible persons designated in § 12 for the constituency proposals with the request to eliminate the same.

Election proposals are not registered if:

  1. the conditions for exclusion from voting specified in § 8, paragraph 2 are present,
  2. the deadline for submitting election proposals pursuant to § 11 has passed,
  3. the deficiencies notified by the Election Commission have not been remedied by the expiry of the deadline for the submission of election proposals, or
  4. confidential persons pursuant to § 12 have not been appointed.

An appeal against decisions of the electoral commission of the electoral district pursuant to paragraph 4, clauses 2 and 4 may be lodged with the electoral commission of the GDR within three days. The decision on the appeal shall be made no later than 6 March 1990.

Section 14.

The Electoral Commission of the GDR shall determine with binding effect by March 9, 1990:

  1. which parties, other political associations and list associations are participating in the election,
  2. the list number according to the alphabetical order of the names of the parties, other political associations and list associations.

By March 9, 1990, the election commissions for the constituencies shall determine with binding effect which parties, other political associations and list associations are to participate in the election in the respective constituency. These determinations as well as the election proposals shall be officially published in the constituencies by the election commission.

Section 15.

Nominations may not be amended or withdrawn after their official publication unless a candidate loses his or her eligibility or dies.

In this case, the parties, other political associations and list associations shall have the right to nominate candidates until March 13, 1990. Candidates nominated subsequently from a list shall take the last place in the list.

Chapter 3. Election commissions and election boards

Section 16.

The elections to the People’s Chamber are conducted by democratically formed, publicly operating election commissions.

The following shall be formed:

  1. a Presidium at the Election Commission of the GDR, consisting of five independent persons with equal rights,
  2. the Electoral Commission of the GDR, consisting of the chairman, two deputies and other members as well as a secretary,
  3. the electoral commissions of the constituencies, consisting of the chairman, two deputies, other members and a secretary.

The secretaries do not have the right to vote in the commissions.

The parties and other political associations participating in the election shall each send two representatives to the election commissions.

Candidates for the People’s Chamber cannot be members of the election commissions.

Section 17.

The GDR Election Commission is formed by resolution of the People’s Chamber. It begins its work on 22 February 1990.

The electoral commission of the GDR appoints the members of the electoral commissions of the constituencies on the proposal of the parties and other political associations.

The election commissions shall elect the chairman and the deputies from among their members by secret ballot.

The composition of the election commissions shall be officially announced.

The election commissions shall continue to exist until the 90th day after the election.

Section 18.

The election committees, consisting of at least seven members, are to be formed by the election commissions of the constituencies no later than March 8, 1990. The parties and other political associations are to submit their proposals by March 1, 1990.

Candidates for the People’s Chamber may not be members of an election committee.

The election committee shall elect a chairman, deputy chairman and secretary from among its members by secret ballot.