State election on April 25, 2027 - Call for submission of district election proposals for constituency 23 (Oberbergischer Kreis I) and constituency 24 (Oberbergischer Kreis II)

Pursuant to § 22 of the State Election Regulation (LWahlO) in its currently valid version, I hereby call for the submission of district election proposals for constituency 23 (Oberbergischer Kreis I) and constituency 24 (Oberbergischer Kreis II) for the state parliament election on 25 April 2027.

Constituency 23 (Oberbergischer Kreis I) comprises the areas of the towns and municipalities belonging to the Oberbergischer Kreis: Gummersbach, Hückeswagen, Lindlar, Marienheide and Wipperfürth.

Constituency 24 (Oberbergischer Kreis II) comprises the areas of the towns and municipalities belonging to the Oberbergischer Kreis: Bergneustadt, Engelskirchen, Morsbach, Nümbrecht, Reichshof, Waldbröl and Wiehl.

I would like to point out that

1. the district election proposals must be submitted by

Monday, 15.02.2027, 6:00 p.m. at the latest (exclusion deadline!)

to the District Election Officer of the Oberbergischer Kreis, Kreishaus, Moltkestraße 42, 51643 Gummersbach, 1st floor, Room 1-05 (District Election Office) (§ 19 (1) of the Act on Elections to the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia (State Election Act – LWahlG), as promulgated on 16 August 1993 (GV. NRW. p. 516), last amended by Article 1 of the Act of 3 February 2026 (GV. NRW. p. 141)).

I recommend submitting the election proposals as early as possible before 15.02.2027, so that any deficiencies affecting the validity of the election proposals can be remedied in good time.

2. that the district election proposal should be submitted using the form set out in Annex 11a LWahlO. It must contain

1. 1. the name of the party or voter group submitting the election proposal; if applicable, a short name or slogan in the case of a non-party candidate/female non-party candidate
   2. surname, first name, occupation or status, date of birth, place of birth and address (main residence).

District election proposals of parties must be signed personally and by hand by at least three members of the state association's executive board, including the chairperson or their deputy. If a party has no state association or no uniform state organisation, the district election proposals must be signed accordingly by the executive boards of the next-lower regional associations (§ 7 (2) of the Political Parties Act – PartG) in whose area the constituency is located. The signatures of the submitting executive board are sufficient if it proves, within the submission period, that the State Election Officer has been given written authorisation to that effect by the other executive boards involved. For other district election proposals, at least three signatories must sign the district election proposal itself; § 23 (2) nos. 3 and 4 LWahlO apply accordingly. The district election proposal should also state the name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the authorised representative and the deputy authorised representative.

The election proposal must be accompanied by the following documents:

1. the declaration of the nominated candidate, in accordance with the form set out in Annex 12a LWahlO, that they consent to their nomination and that they have not given their consent to being named as a candidate for any other district election proposal; the declaration may be made on the election proposal using the form set out in Annex 11a LWahlO,
2. a certificate from the competent mayor, in accordance with the form set out in Annex 13 LWahlO, confirming that the candidate is eligible; the certificate may be issued on the election proposal using the form set out in Annex 11a LWahlO,
3. if the election proposal is submitted by a party or voter group, a copy of the minutes of the party's or voter group's meeting for the nomination of candidates, and, in the event of an objection pursuant to

§ 18 (6) LWahlG, also a record of the repeated vote, together with the affidavits required under § 18 (8) LWahlG; for election proposals under § 18 (4) LWahlG, the copy of the minutes and the affidavits need only be attached to one election proposal; the minutes should be drawn up using the form set out in Annex 9a LWahlO, and the affidavits using the form set out in Annex 10a LWahlO,

4. if the election proposal is submitted by a party, the affidavit of the nominated candidate that they are a member of the party that nominated them and belong to no other party, or that they belong to no party,

5. the required number of supporting signatures together with certificates confirming the signatories' right to vote, if the election proposal must be signed by persons entitled to vote in the constituency.

3. that parties which, since their last election, have not been continuously represented in the German Bundestag or in a state parliament on the basis of their own election proposal, or whose party status was not established at the last election to the German Bundestag, may only submit an election proposal as such if they have, by

Monday, 18.01.2027, 6:00 p.m. at the latest (exclusion deadline!)

notified the State Election Officer in writing of their participation in the election and the State Election Committee has established their party status.

The notification must state the name under which the party intends to participate in the election. The notification must be signed personally and by hand by at least three members of the state association's executive board, including the chairperson or their deputy. If no state association exists, the notification must be signed accordingly by the executive boards of the next-lower regional associations (§ 7 (2) PartG) located within the state. The written statutes and written programme of the party, as well as evidence of an executive board elected in accordance with democratic principles, must be attached to the notification. Evidence of party status pursuant to § 2 (1) sentence 1 PartG should also be attached to the notification.

4. that election proposals of parties which are not represented in the State Parliament or in the German Bundestag on the basis of an election proposal from the state since their last election, or which achieved a final election result of more than 1 percent at the last state parliament election, must be signed personally and by hand by at least 200 persons entitled to vote in the constituency; this also applies to election proposals of voter groups and individual candidates (§ 19 (2) LWahlG).

If a district election proposal must be signed by at least 200 persons entitled to vote, the signatures must be provided on official forms in accordance with Annex 14a LWahlO, observing the following provisions:

1. 1. The forms are supplied free of charge by the District Election Officer upon request; they may also be made available as a print template or electronically. When requesting the forms, the surname, first name and place of residence of the nominated candidate, and the name (short name) of the party or voter group intending to submit the district election proposal, must be stated. The District Election Officer must note this information in the header of the forms.
   2. Persons entitled to vote who support a district election proposal must sign the declaration on the form personally and by hand. The details of the signatory's surname, first name, date of birth and address