New right to vote in Hesse: D’Hondt procedure causes excitement!

New right to vote in Hesse: D’Hondt procedure causes excitement!

The preparation for the Hessian local elections on March 15, 2026 is in full swing and there is a lot to discuss. The new seating process, the d’Hondt procedure, will be the basis for the allocation of mandates in the communities and district days instead of the Hare/Niemeyer system used so far. This decision, which was made in the state parliament in Wiesbaden on March 27, 2025, has already caused heated debates. While the black and red coalition of the CDU and SPD voted for the reform, the opposition factions, including the Greens, the AfD and the FDP, rejected the amendment to the law.

The changeover to the d’Hondt procedure, which has been used in German voting rights since 1945, raises a number of questions. This divisor procedure shares the votes of the parties by an ongoing count (1, 2, 3, ...) and grants the seats according to the highest numbers achieved. Critics agree that this electoral methodology tends to favor larger parties. The Marburg constitutional lawyer Hans-Detlef Horn remembers that the procedure can sometimes lead to distortions and endanger the equality of voting. Therefore, he calls for a comprehensive review of the existing electoral law provisions.

Electoral law in transition

The changeover from the Hare/Niemeyer procedure, which has been used in Hesse since 1981 and is based on another calculation method, towards the d’Hondt system, has caused great discussions in the politically interested public. The voices were multiplied under the Hare-Niemeyer procedure and then divided by the number of seats, which enabled a more proportional representation in the past. The d’Hondt system could now lead to the fact that only 11 groups are represented in Frankfurt's Römer instead of 16, as Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) reports. This could reduce the fragmentation of the parliaments, emphasizes Poseck. However, numerous voices warn that this could reduce the influence of smaller parties, which is perceived as a danger to democracy.

The Federal Constitutional Court also points out that voting rights provisions are not eternally harmless. The reactions to the reform are therefore divided: on the one hand is the government, which wants to improve the functionality of municipal representation; On the other hand, the critics who fear the disadvantage of smaller parties and consider legal action. The FDP has already filed a lawsuit against the reform. Your fears are not unfounded. In the past, there have already been examples in which parties achieved worse results due to the application of the d’Hondt procedure than it corresponded to their voting share.

The outlook on the local elections

On March 15, 2026, it will be shown whether the risks that are associated with the d’Hondt procedure will actually occur. Science and voting rights experts eagerly observe the development, because the decision of the Hessian State Court, which will be critical for the final implementation of the reform, is viewed as a mathematical challenge. After all, it is important to maintain the balance between larger and smaller parties, while at the same time the functionality of parliaments is to be promoted.

Overall, it remains to be seen how the political structures develop according to the reform and whether the voters: inside the urns will actually find a clear, reliable representation of their interests. The coming months promise a lot of tension and could be crucial for the political landscape in Hesse.