Until the deadline for the registration of candidates on January 7, a total of 56 parties and political associations have announced their intention to participate in the 2025 federal election. The Federal Returning Officer announced this on Wednesday.
For most parties and political associations, the announcement is a prerequisite for participating in the federal election. Only parties that, in the Bundestag or a state parliament, have been represented by their own election slates with at least five members since the last election can submit their election slates directly to the responsible state or district returning officers. All other parties and political associations must first notify the Federal Returning Officer of their intention to participate in writing.
Among the parties and associations that have announced their participation are several well-known smaller and smallest parties, such as “The Party”, Volt, the Value Union, the Pirate Party, or the Animal Protection Party, as well as the South Schleswig Voters’ Association, which, as the party of the Danish minority, is exempt from the five-percent hurdle.