2022 German presidential election

The German Basic Law, the Grundgesetz, mandates that presidential elections must be held no later than thirty days before the sitting President's term ends, unless the presidency falls vacant prematurely.[5]

On 19 March 2017 Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democratic Party, who was elected by the 16th Federal Convention on 12 February 2017, entered office and started his first five-year term as president. Therefore, the next Federal Convention could not convene later than 16 February 2022. The Bundestag's Council of Elders scheduled the 17th Federal Convention for 13 February 2022.[6] If Steinmeier's term had ended prematurely, the Federal Convention would have met no later than thirty days after the start of the vacancy and the President of the Bundesrat would have become acting president in the interim.[7]

The Federal Convention consists of all the members of the current Bundestag (736 members) and an equal number of state electors, allocated to the sixteen states of Germany in proportion to their population. The state electors are elected by the state parliaments.[7]

The composition of the Federal Convention:[8]

As is common for the state-nominated delegates of the constitutional convention, a number of non-politicians - some of them celebrities - are nominated by various parties. During the 17th Federal Convention, virologists Sandra Ciesek and Christian Drosten are both among the members as is infectious disease specialist Marylyn Addo, all of whom came to broader public prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Baden-Württemberg, the SPD and FDP (both in opposition at the state level) agreed to nominate a joint list with 13 members proposed by the SPD and 12 by the FDP.

Every member of the Federal Convention (members of the Bundestag and state electors, once they are elected by their respective state parliament) can propose candidates for the presidency. It is required that the President be a German citizen and at least 40 years old. Every candidate has to declare their consent to running. Candidates can be proposed before the Federal Convention and (theoretically) during the convention before every ballot. If the president-elect is a member of a legislature or a government at the federal or state level, they have to resign from that office before the start of their term. A sitting president is not allowed to run for a third consecutive term.[5]