116. If you are eligible to vote in a Bundestag election in Germany, that means …

Answer options

1. an active election campaign.
2. an active electoral procedure.
3. active electioneering.
4. active suffrage (the right to vote).

Explanation

The term refers to active suffrage, i.e., the right to participate in elections by casting a ballot; it is distinct from passive suffrage, the right to stand for election. Its legal basis is Article 38(1) of the Basic Law, which provides that Bundestag elections must be general, direct, free, equal, and secret; in principle, all Germans within the meaning of Article 116 who are at least 18 are entitled to vote, subject to narrowly circumscribed exclusions under the Federal Electoral Act. Active suffrage operationalizes the democratic principle in Article 20(2) (“All state authority emanates from the people”) and is a core element of the liberal-democratic constitutional order.