Who can vote?
All German citizens and all other citizens of the European Union who are at least 16 years old on the day of the election and have had their main residence in the respective municipality for at least three months are entitled to vote.
Which elections are being held?
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the local elections in Thuringia in spring 2024 will elect
- the Lord Mayors of the five independent cities of Erfurt, Jena, Gera, Weimar and Suhl
- the Lord Mayors of the district towns of Eisenach, Mühlhausen, Altenburg, Gotha and Ilmenau
- 13 of the 17 Thuringian district councillors. The district councillors in Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, the Saale-Orla district, the Nordhausen district and the Sonneberg district will not be elected in spring 2024. The reason for this in each case is that former district councillors have resigned from office prematurely, making another election period necessary.
- 63 full-time and 19 honorary mayors. Thuringia has a total of 605 municipalities at the start of 2024.
- The members of all 17 Thuringian district councils.
- Most members of the municipal and city councils.
- Finally, many district mayors and district council members of a municipality as well as local mayors and local council members of a rural municipality are elected.
How do I vote?
As a voter, you have three votes to choose from. You can cast all of them, but also just one or two. The votes can be used to vote for a candidate from one of the electoral lists on the ballot paper – regardless of the candidate’s position. Of course, you can also distribute the three votes among different candidates from different lists. You can also choose only one list directly. In this case, your three votes are distributed among the first three candidates on the respective list. The other candidates on the list are left empty-handed.
Source: mdr
