A few weeks ahead of the tenth direct elections for the European Parliament, Federal Electoral Commissioner Ruth Brand sees the preparations for a secure and orderly vote in Germany „on track“. Brand said that there has been close cooperation with security authorities to prevent manipulation, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns. So far, there have been none, she said in Berlin. Support comes from the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the Federal Criminal Police Office, and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

The Federal Electoral Commissioner and her team intend to monitor not only the traditional media, but also social media, until the election on June 9. On their website, and their accounts on platforms like X or Instagram, misinformation will be corrected, and proactive information will be provided. In particular the 5.1 million potential first-time voters will be addressed. This includes 16- and 17-year-olds who are participating in a European Parliament election for the first time.

In total, 64.9 million people in Germany are eligible to vote this time – 3.3 million more than in 2019 and the highest number ever. There will be a choice of 35 parties and political groupings – from the usual suspects to exotic ones like the „Party for Conventional Medicine Rejuvenation Research," the „Party of Reason,“ or the "Party for Change, Vegetarians, and Vegans.“ Ten other parties did not qualify to get on the ballot in Germany, mostly because they lacked the necessary 4,000 supporting signatures.

A total of 1,413 candidates have been nominated. This is also a new record. The youngest candidate is 18 years old and comes from the Die Linke (Left) party, while the oldest is 87 years old and runs for the AfD. One in five candidates is at most 29 years old. The proportion of women, at 34.4%, is similarly low as last time. The CDU North Rhine-Westphalia and the Action Citizens for Justice stand out positively, each with 66.7% women. In contrast, the self-proclaimed Party of Reason and the Alliance for Germany have a female share of 0%.

In Germany, 96 MEPs will be elected through a proportional representation system using party lists, mirroring the process from five years ago. There is no minimum threshold for the percentage of votes won. In 2019, this led to 14 parties entering the EU Parliament. For the smaller parties, just over 240,000 votes (0.7%) were enough for one mandate. The hope is that the positive trend in voter turnout will continue. In 2019, it was 61%. Nevertheless, the voter turnout for European elections has so far never reached the levels of federal elections.