How voting in Germany works

As you may already know, today the European Union elects its new parliament. Additionally there are municipal elections in Germany.

I thought I might share the process for those who are interested.

Elections are always on sundays, because shops are closed then and most people don't work.

Every person in Germany is required to get registered in the city they live in, and is also required to have an ID card ("Personalausweis"). So the government knows where you live. :-P

Several weeks before the election day every citizen of voting age receives a letter in the mail with their voting card ("Wahlbenachrichtigung").

Here I have the information about the communal election (KW for "Kommunalwahl") and for the european election (EW for "Europawahl").

At the top of the page It tells me the time the poll sites are open and where exactly I have to go.

The green slip is just for those who don't have time on election day. It informs them about the postal ballot process.

My poll site is right down the street, only 200m away in a school.

You have many parties to choose from. This collection is only a part of the parties available for European election and municipal election.

We have from top to bottom:

1. Green Party ("For queendoms on our meadows")

2. Social Democratic Party with their candidate for city council Marko Ehlebe

3. Free Democratic Party with their candidate for city council Tankred Roth ("Security is not free [of costs]. Let's strengthen the police")

4. A very small party whose name translates to "Alliance for animal protection" ("Castration instead of murder for Europe's [can't read that, maybe street dogs]")

5. Alternative for Germany ("Strengthen the police!")

6. Christian Democratic Union, the party of Angela Merkel, with their candidate for city council Hubert Salzborn

This is the poll site, a high school in my neighbourhood.

It houses the poll sites for 3 neighbouring areas this day. I need to check my poll card to find out which is mine.

There I need to go!

I didn't take a picture of the room itself, because I didn't want anybody to feel uncomfortable.

It was a class room with the tables and chairs put aside and on each side there was a row of tables with 3 or four voluntary election helpers behind them.
At one side you give them your voting card and they hand out the ballot paper to you. Then you go into the cabin.

After you voted you throw the ballot paper into a sealed box with a slit on the other side of the room.

To the left are my choices for European election. Each of the circles is for a list of people by one European party. So you can only give 1 vote for one party, but not for single persons on these lists.

To the right are my choices for the communal election. Each block is one list of candidates in my area for every party. I have 3 votes and can give them to any person in these lists. I can even vote for people from different parties.

Both election processes are different from the process for national and state parliaments in which everybody has 2 votes - one for a party and one for a candidate.

This picture may or may not symbolize my political affiliations.
It could simply be a nice snapshot I took while doing garden work until the interesting part of the election starts after 6pm.