Als Wahlhelfer:in melden / Bremerhaven

The election in the polling stations and the counting of votes is carried out by volunteer electoral assistants. The voluntary electoral assistants form the electoral board.

The next elections are expected to take place in spring 2027 for the Bremen Parliament and the Bremerhaven City Council.

The tasks of volunteer electoral assistants include, for example

• Checking eligibility to vote based on the electoral roll
• Issuing the ballot papers
• Releasing the ballot box for the ballot paper to be inserted
• Determining the election result

Polling assistants must perform their duties impartially (e.g. they may not wear a sign that indicates their own political convictions) and are obliged to maintain confidentiality about any matters they become aware of during their official duties.

Poll workers receive detailed information material to prepare them for their work. Training courses are also offered.

No documents required.

Poll workers who are members of the election committee must themselves be eligible to vote in the relevant election.

For the election to the European Parliament, the requirements are

• German citizenship or citizenship of a member state of the European Union
• be over the age of 16
• not be excluded from the right to vote by a court ruling.

The requirements for elections to the German Bundestag are

• German citizenship
• Completion of the 18th year of age
• not be excluded from the right to vote by a court ruling.

For elections to the Bremen Parliament and the City Council of Bremerhaven, the requirements are

• German citizenship
• Completion of the 16th year of age
• not be excluded from the right to vote by a court ruling
• have had a main residence in the state of Bremen for at least three months and be eligible to vote in the Bremerhaven electoral area in the parliamentary elections.

The work as a poll worker is voluntary. In principle, every eligible voter is obliged to take on this voluntary work. It may only be refused for important reasons. In the following cases, for example, there is the right to refuse to work as an election assistant:

• you have reached the age of 65 on election day
• it can be credibly demonstrated that caring for the family makes it particularly difficult to exercise the office
• the office cannot be exercised due to illness, disability, urgent professional or other important reasons.

The existence of an important reason must be proven.

The following may not be appointed

• Candidates for election
• Representatives of the election proposals
• Members of other electoral bodies

Refreshment allowances

Election assistants receive a refreshment allowance for their work. The amount of the refreshment allowance varies depending on the effort and responsibility involved.
Depending on the type of election, attending a training event is mandatory for certain activities (e.g. on the counting board). An additional expense allowance is granted for attending a training event.

Registration as an election assistant can be submitted to the Citizens' and Public Order Office, Statistics and Elections Department, on a voluntary basis. Registration is binding! It can be submitted in writing, in person or online.

The Citizens' and Public Order Office will deploy polling assistants in their own electoral district or close to where they live if possible. However, this is not possible in all cases. Requests regarding the place of deployment should be communicated when registering. For example, you can also specify a preferred constituency for the assignment. The Citizens' and Public Order Office, Statistics and Elections Department, will then try to take this into account.

In principle, every eligible voter is obliged to take on voluntary work.

If you are interested in volunteering as an election worker, please contact the Citizens' and Public Order Office, Statistics and Elections Department, as early as possible. Election workers are generally appointed in writing a few weeks before the election. In exceptional cases, however, it may happen that election workers have to be appointed at short notice - possibly even on election day.

The Citizens' and Public Order Office may collect and process personal data (surname, first name, date of birth, address, telephone numbers, number of appointments made) of eligible voters for the purpose of appointing them as election assistants. The data may also be processed for future elections, provided the data subjects have not objected to the processing of their data. The data subjects must be informed of their right to object.

Special features of the individual elections:

Election of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament:

In the election of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament, there is an electoral board for each electoral district, which carries out its activities on site at the polling station. It is responsible for both the election process (voting from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and for determining the election result.

Polling assistants must be present at the respective polling station on election day before the polling stations open in order to make preparations. During the election day, attendance is usually in shifts. After the polling stations close, all poll workers must be present until all votes have been counted.

There are also postal voting boards that carry out their work in the postal voting center. They meet at midday and initially decide on the admission of postal votes. After the polling stations close, they count the votes cast by postal ballot.

Election of the Bremen Parliament and the Bremerhaven City Council

For these elections, so-called ballot box election boards are set up in the polling stations. They are responsible for the election process (voting from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.). After the polling stations close at 6 p.m., they are responsible for the final work, after which they can finish their work when the election documents have been handed over to the responsible persons at the municipal authority.

The counting of votes is then the responsibility of independent postal ballot boards and counting boards. They meet in the premises designated for counting outside the polling station.

The count is expected to take several days.

Anyone who is appointed as a poll worker on a postal ballot board or counting board will generally also work there on the days following the election until the provisional election results for all polling districts have been determined.

In view of the more complex five-vote electoral system, more extensive training is required for poll workers - especially in the counting boards.

Contact and registration:

If you would like to volunteer as a poll worker at an election, you can contact us at any time:

Bürger- und Ordnungsamt, Abteilung Statistik und Wahlen
Phone: 0471 590-2297
Email: wahlamt@magistrat.bremerhaven.de
From approx. 6 months before an election date, you will find an online registration form at the bottom of this page.

Please note that registration is binding and the honorary post may only be rejected for good cause.

A written appointment is generally only made a few weeks before the election!