Comments

By amendment of the Federal Elections Act in 1985, the provision was extended considerably through the introduction of the “model of combination”. On the one hand, a voting right was introduced for an unlimited period of time for all Germans living in the respective member states of the Council of Europe, provided that they had had a place of residence in the former territory of the Federal Republic after 23 May 1949 or had otherwise had their habitual abode there for an uninterrupted period of at least 3 months (“Council-of-Europe solution”). On the other hand, a voting right was established under the same condition for all Germans living in other territories outside the Federal Republic of Germany, provided that their relocation had not taken place more than 10 years earlier (“time-limit solution”). In 1998 the time limit was extended to a period of 25 years (The Federal Returning Office (Die Bundeswahlleiterin), Germans abroad (Deutsche im Ausland), accessed 18 March 2025).