Bundesrat of Germany - Voting

Voting

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In contrast to many other legislative bodies, the delegates to the Bundesrat from any one state are required to cast the votes of the state as a single bloc (since the votes are not those of the respective delegate). If the members of a delegation cast different votes then the entire vote of the respective state is invalid.

The delegates of a state are equal to one other, in the Bundesrat, hence the minister-president has no special rights compared to his ministers. But it is possible (and even customary) that one of the delegates (the Stimmführer, "leader of the votes" — normally the minister-president) casts all votes of the respective state, even if the other members of the delegation are present.

Because coalition governments are common, states frequently choose to abstain if their coalition cannot agree on a position. As every decision of the Bundesrat requires an absolute majority of the votes of all states, abstaining has the same effect as voting against a proposal.

Between 1949 and 1990, West Berlin was represented by four members, elected by its Senate, but owing to the city's ambiguous legal status, they did not have voting rights.

Read more about this topic:  Bundesrat Of Germany

Famous quotes containing the word voting:

    “Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.”
    —Tom Stoppard (b. 1937)

    “All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)