122. Which basic principle governs elections in Germany? Elections in Germany are …

Answer options

1. free, equal, secret.
2. open, secure, free.
3. closed, equal, secure.
4. secure, open, voluntary.

Explanation

Under Article 38(1) sentence 1 GG (together with Article 28(1) GG), elections in Germany must be general, direct, free, equal, and secret. Option 1 lists three of these constitutional principles; “security,” “openness,” and “voluntariness” are not part of the canonical formula (even though there is no compulsory voting). The Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) has refined them, e.g., construing electoral equality as both formal and substantive equality of vote value (the 5% threshold, overhang and compensatory seats) and upholding postal voting while safeguarding secrecy. In addition, the democracy principle requires public transparency of essential electoral steps (verifiability without specialized knowledge; the 2009 e‑voting decision).