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Karlsruhe rejects complaints from Sahra Wagenknecht's BSW against voting rights
Sahra Wagenknecht's BSW fails before the Federal Constitutional Court with lawsuits regarding voting rights after the 2025 federal election.
Karlsruhe rejects complaints from Sahra Wagenknecht's BSW against voting rights
The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht – Reason and Justice (BSW) party suffered a defeat before the Federal Constitutional Court on June 3, 2025. BSW's lawsuits were declared inadmissible because the applicant could not prove that her rights to equal opportunities had been violated. The Senate of the Constitutional Court made it clear that BSW had not sufficiently substantiated its claims and was therefore not authorized to file an application. gn-online.de
The BSW was primarily referring to the election for the 21st German Bundestag, in which the party received 4.97% of the valid second votes. The final result missed the required five percent hurdle at 4.981% and meant that the BSW was unable to enter the Bundestag. In its lawsuit, the party made two main allegations. On the one hand, it was criticized that the Bundestag had failed to introduce a legal remedy to demand a recount of votes in the event of close results below the five percent threshold. On the other hand, the BSW called for a different regulation regarding the order of the parties on the ballot papers in the Federal Election Act. bundesverfassungsgericht.de
Insufficient justification for the complaint
The Constitutional Court pointed out that the complaint about the design of the ballot paper was not sufficiently substantiated. In addition, a legislative omission in electoral law requires a detailed discussion of the requirements of the Basic Law, which the BSW was not in a position to do. It was found that the BSW was unable to provide sufficient evidence that the Bundestag had not dealt with specific legislative proposals to determine the election results. Problems with vote counting are also left to the election objection and election verification process.
The decision shows how difficult it is for new parties to establish themselves in Germany's political system. The BSW was only founded in January 2024 and is made up of former members of the Die Linke party. Despite the preliminary success of the vote, the party is now unable to actively participate in political events, which raises the question of equal opportunities in a system that is based on a high hurdle for entry into the Bundestag.