First of all: We can't wait either! The latest voting information is always available at openpetition.de.

Starting in mid-August, we'll be entering the next phase: We'll be inviting everyone with a verified openPetition account by email to have a voting key and ballot paper easily created through our system.

From September to October, you can vote in the first nationwide online referendum by ballot online!

The results will be announced on October 31, 2025.

It's all a question of security: only if time intervals are maintained between the individual steps can we, thanks to state-of-the-art technical solutions, guarantee that the principles of democratic elections are always met: general, direct, free, equal, secret.

Time is particularly important for the last principle of “secret”: The secret lies in the fact that every person can exercise their right to vote in such a way that it is not possible to trace how they voted.

Although we are guided by the electoral law for the German Bundestag, we also want to enable people without German citizenship (but residing in Germany) to participate. People with German citizenship must verify their account on openPetition in advance using an ePerso (e-identification card) or a postal PIN. People without German citizenship must also verify their account in advance and can only do so by mail using their postal PIN.

This year we're offering online voting for the first time, and we look forward to a large number of participants. However, we don't want to exclude anyone, so you can still participate by mail this year. Voting materials were available to order until August 10th abstimmung21 openpetition.de. After that, you can only register for the vote online. This way we can ensure that no one participates in the referendum twice.

Software for democratic participation such as elections or referendums should not only come from large tech corporations or be in the hands of the state. The democratic tools of the future belong in the hands of citizens.

Help us realize our vision of the first non-profit platform for nationwide voting with a donation.

This year, the following topics will be voted on: wealth tax for the super-rich, arms deliveries to Ukraine, debt brake, climate protection law.

From May to mid-June, people could vote on issues by signing petitions. The two issues with the most signatures made it onto the voting list: openpetition.de / abstimmung21

In addition, two topics were placed on the ballot list – also through a voting process – via our cooperation partner ABSTIMMUNG21 eV.

The opposite is true: With fair rules, direct democracy can take the wind out of populists' sails. It makes politics more transparent and gives all citizens more influence – not just those who shout the loudest. With independent fact-checking, a debate format, and a neutral comparison of positions, we ensure that everyone is objectively informed.

Due to the length of the process—up to four years at the federal level—referendums are less suitable for populist snap decisions. Instead, they trigger intense debates throughout society. This breaks down bubbles, broadens and deepens the discussion—and thus contributes to objectivity.

In general, referendums reflect society, but are not responsible for its condition. Society can see how things are going. It doesn't always have to come to a referendum. The preemptive effect of direct democracy ensures that politicians have to address the diverse interests of the population. Direct democracy also acts as an outlet. It can remove the widespread feeling that people are not being heard. By enabling everyone to play a creative role, direct democracy focuses less on "those at the top." While there are good opportunities to launch a popular initiative, it is up to each and every one of us to determine how we fare.

Together with our cooperation partner ABSTIMMUNG21 , we rely on Article 20, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law. It states: "All state authority emanates from the people. It is exercised by the people in elections and referendums […] ."

So there's already a certain legitimacy for the nationwide vote. There's no concrete implementing law yet that would guarantee its binding nature. That's why we're organizing the vote ourselves.

Nevertheless, the vote can and should not only be a signal for the instrument of the referendum, but also have an issue-specific impact.

Together with ABSTIMMUNG21 , we're trying to grow and encourage more and more people to participate in this democratic experiment. Everything we do is funded by donations.

If many people not only vote for the Bundestag but also vote on an issue via openPetition & ABSTIMMUNG21 , then Parliament receives a clear mandate to act.

Direct democracy in Switzerland may be a model in principle, but in crucial respects it is not, and above all, cannot be transferred 1:1 to Germany. Unlike in Switzerland, we favor a three-tiered model of direct democracy at the state and federal levels: popular initiative, popular petition, and referendum. Following the initiative, the possibility of legal review is provided (preventive review of legal norms). The Federal Constitutional Court can thus examine the compatibility of a draft bill with the Basic Law and international law and reject the initiative if fundamental and minority rights would be violated. The popular petition and referendum then no longer take place. This is a key difference from direct democracy in Switzerland.

There is no provision for a comprehensive prior review. Switzerland also does not have its own constitutional court. Laws passed by the people can only be brought before the European Court of Human Rights after the fact, which then examines whether they comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

No. We are guided by the three-tiered popular legislation system in the German federal states and the joint legislative proposal of the democracy organizations Mehr Demokratie, OMNIBUS for Direct Democracy, and Democracy International. This provides for the protection of fundamental and minority rights. This is ensured by the fact that every bill drafted by a popular initiative is reviewed by the Federal Constitutional Court, at the request of the government or parliament, for its compatibility with the Basic Law and international law – and can be stopped in the event of a violation. This "preventive review of norms" already exists in direct democratic processes in all federal states.

Brexit is not a suitable example of direct democracy in Germany. It was initiated by the British government and abused by the parties for populist purposes. There was no clear voting template and no balanced information for the survey. Furthermore, in Switzerland, for example, it is common practice for international treaties to be voted on twice: once at the beginning of the negotiations and once at the end, when all the details of the agreement are on the table.

Our society is facing – today and always will be – a variety of major challenges. These are best solved jointly through dialogue with the public. That's why openPetition primarily promotes petitions. Direct democracy provides civil society with another opportunity to put ideas and concepts to a vote. It's unlikely that people will feel 100% supported by a single party – but at the federal level, elections are the only way citizens are directly consulted. Why is the public only trusted to be sovereign every four years? Referendums help to secure political decisions and highlight where there is room for improvement. This can strengthen confidence in one's own self-efficacy and in democracy and help combat political disenchantment.

For years, the legal introduction of nationwide referendums has been blocked. Yet there is a real need, and representative surveys regularly show that more than two-thirds of the population consistently support them. By allowing people to vote on specific, important issues, we make the nationwide vote tangible and tangible. We demonstrate that more democracy is also possible at the federal level!

Democratic elections and votes must be able to guarantee a secret and equal vote – this applies even if they take place online.

opn.vote guarantees the secrecy of the vote through an anonymous digital ballot. Only the voter has access to the digital ballot, and no one else. This is made possible by the voting key, which is generated only on the voter's own device and known only to the voter. The ballot is cryptographically signed, so it cannot be forged or duplicated.

The votes cast are stored publicly and immutably in a decentralized blockchain, the Gnosis Chain. Since the votes cannot be assigned to any individual, the secrecy of the vote is maintained. Anyone can verify their own vote and, after the election, check all votes for validity and count them themselves. No central authority can interfere with the voting process and falsify the results.

Further information on the voting process can be found on our opn.vote blog.

In the final step of voting, the ballot paper must be uploaded once the voting period has begun (we will inform you via email and on the website). We want to make it as easy as possible for people and offer various options: Some have saved the PDF locally, others have printed it out, for example, and can scan the QR code.

If you don't want to use the QR code, that's no problem. The main thing is to upload the ballot paper again so you receive a ballot.

Downloading PDFs is very cumbersome with browsers like Ecosia or DuckDuckGO. We therefore recommend using a more common internet browser for this process. Incognito mode is no problem.

Unfortunately, the combination of Ecosia and the iPhone is actually very user-unfriendly. Solutions provided by search engines or AI are also useless. But we've figured out how to do it.

It would be easier to simply print the PDF or use a different browser (unfortunately, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia make a fuss when saving the PDF). Incognito mode is generally not a problem, though.

Below we provide a step-by-step guide for the Ecosia Browser on the iPhone:

Let's go (copy the yellow markings):

Go to the following website and click the “Get started now” button (you may need to log in after clicking the button): https://www.openpetition.org/cl/opn-vote/wahl/deutschlands-vierte-selbstorganisierte-bundesweite-volksabstimmung

Then click "Save to Files." If this doesn't appear, click "Edit Actions" (the rest of the instructions refer to the second case):

Click the "+" sign. Then click "Done." You can then complete the previous step by clicking "Save to Files."

So the following appears after clicking "Back up to files".

Please give the file a better name, such as "Election Key" or "Ballot." At this point, you can also specify where the file should be saved—the Downloads folder is a common location.

It would be easier to simply print the PDF or use a different browser (unfortunately, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia make a fuss when saving the PDF). Incognito mode is generally not a problem, though.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to save the key/note with DuckDuckGo:

1. Visit the following website: https://www.openpetition.org/cl/opn-vote/wahl/deutschlands-vierte-selbstorganisierte-bundesweite-volksabstimmung
2. Click the "Get started now" button.
3. If you are then asked to log in, please log in.
4. You now have the option to download the voting key again: click "Save voting key again." DuckDuckGo prevents the download on the first attempt. However, simply reloading the page will allow the download to succeed. The following will then appear - please click "Allow":
   
5. You'll then be asked where you want to save the file. Please click "Save to Downloads."
   

Done! After saving the key, you can create the ballot paper—please save it as well.