Page:Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria.djvu/4



(1) The Bavarian State Parliament consists of 1801) members representing the Bavarian people

(2) 1 The Bavarian State Parliament members are the representatives of the people rather than of a party 2 They shall only answer to their own conscience and shall not be bound by instructions

Footnotes

1)For the 14th Bavarian State Parliament please refer to Section 2 (3) no 2 of the act of 20 February 1998 (GVBI page 39)

(1) 1 The members of the Bavarian State Parliament shall be elected by all citizens entitled to vote in the constituencies and electoral districts in a universal, equal, direct, and secret election in accordance with an improved system of proportional representation 2 Each administrative region shall form a constituency 3 Each administrative district and each independent municipality shall constitute an electoral district 4 If required by the principle of electoral equality, geographically contiguous electoral districts must be formed in deviation from sentence 3 5 The maximum number of electoral districts formed for each constituency may only exceed the number of members to be voted into the Bavarian State Parliament from the constituency list by one electoral district

6 The number of members under Art 13 (1) may be exceeded by extra seats and levelling seats which are allocated in accordance with these principles

(2) Any citizen who is capable of voting and has attained the age of 18 shall be eligible for election

(3) The election shall be held on a Sunday or a public day of rest

(4) Parties standing for election which fail to gain at least five percent of the total valid votes cast shall not be allocated a seat in the Bavarian State Parliament

(5) Further details shall be governed by the Bavarian Electoral Act

(1) Political groups with members or sponsors who intend to suppress civil freedom or to use force against the people, the state or the Constitution, may not participate in elections and votes

(2) The Bavarian Constitutional Court shall rule as to whether these prerequisites are met on a motion of the State Government or any of the political parties represented in the Bavarian State Parliament