ZU Professor Joachim Behnke appointed to Commission for the Reform of Electoral Law in the Bundestag

The renowned expert on electoral law and electoral systems had previously also been an expert witness at two hearings of the Bundestag’s Interior Committee, where he appeared as a critic of the new electoral law passed in 2020 because, in his view, it did not take sufficient precautions against a highly bloated Bundestag.

“I am pleased to serve on this commission and hope that after the many previous attempts, which were ultimately unsuccessful, this time we will finally succeed in drafting a sustainable electoral law that is fair and does justice to the interests of citizens and voters,” explained Behnke on the occasion of his appointment.

The commission was set up by the Bundestag in mid-March at the request of the coalition parliamentary groups SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP and has since been constituted. Its goal is to “address proposals, based on the principles of personalized proportional representation, that effectively reduce the size of the Bundestag toward the standard legal size and sustainably prevent the Bundestag from growing larger,” according to the motion. The commission will also address the question of how the work of the Bundestag can be made “more attractive, more transparent and more effective using the possibilities of digitization,” how suggestions from citizens can be better incorporated and how the exercise of parliamentary rights can be strengthened.

The panel includes 13 deputies and 13 experts. It is to submit an interim report with recommendations on the future limitation of the number of deputies by the end of August and its final report by the middle of next year.