The parliamentary groups in the Lower Saxony state parliament have submitted their nominations for the Federal Convention to elect Germany’s next head of state. As was known on 13 November 2026, the nominees include not only MPs but also figures from the media, business and civil society. The Lower Saxony state parliament still has to elect the state’s 63 representatives. The Federal Convention will meet in Berlin on 30 January 2027.
Among those on the SPD’s list are television presenter Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, German Trade Union Confederation chair Yasmin Fahimi, and musician Johannes Strate. The parliamentary group published its nominations on 10 November. It expects 25 of its nominees to be able to take part in the election. They include Stephan Weil, the former Minister-President of Lower Saxony.
According to NDR, the CDU wants to send, among others, former Federal President Christian Wulff and entrepreneur Raoul Roßmann . Wulff was Federal President from 2010 to 2012 and had previously been Minister-President of Lower Saxony. According to the report, the Greens are nominating, among others, climate activist Luisa Neubauer and human rights activist Düzen Tekkal . The AfD list reportedly includes 12 people, most of them from its state parliamentary group.
The nominations do not yet mean that those named will be sent to the convention. Only the state parliament’s vote will determine who takes Lower Saxony’s seats in the Federal Convention. The process allows the parliamentary groups to nominate people from outside parliament: members elected by state parliaments do not have to be state MPs.
The Federal Convention has just one task: to elect the Federal President. It consists of all 630 members of the Bundestag and an equal number of people elected by the state parliaments. The number of additional members appointed by each state depends on its population. Lower Saxony’s 63 delegates join the Bundestag members, who are already members of the convention by virtue of their mandate.
Voting is by secret ballot, with no prior debate. A majority of all members of the Federal Convention is required in the first two rounds. If no one secures that majority, the candidate with the most votes wins in the third round. Anyone who is a German citizen, eligible to vote in Bundestag elections and at least 40 years old may stand.
The term of office of the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier ends on 18 March 2027. After serving two terms, he cannot be immediately re-elected. The President of the Bundestag Julia Klöckner had already set the date for the Federal Convention on 26 February 2026. By selecting their delegates, the state parliamentary groups are initially deciding the make-up of the electoral body, not who will become the next head of state.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).