Electoral system for national legislature

Federal Law on National Council Elections (Bundesgesetz über die Wahl des Nationalrates)

42. (1) Each campaigning party has to present its list of candidates for the first and second counting procedure (provincial list of candidates) to the provincial election authority until 5 p.m. on the forty-second day before the election day at the latest; 

79. (1) Each voter can cast one preferential vote for any one candidate from the provincial party list and the regional party list of the party he or she has voted for.  

84. (6) After that, the elections authority has to determine the preferential votes for each candidate on the party lists of a provincial list of candidates published in the provincial constituency and enter them in a preferential vote record. 

86. (2) The ward elections authorities in the municipalities described in para 1 have to enclose the voting cards in closed and, if possible, sealed envelopes and transmit them to the municipal elections authorities. The municipal elections authorities have to reexamine the results established by the ward elections authorities according to Article 84, paras 3 and 4, on the basis of the record of the election procedure. They have to also calculate the results for the whole territory of the municipality and to put them down in their record. In doing so, the municipal elections authorities have to determine the preferential votes for each candidate on the party lists of a provincial list of candidates published in the provincial constituency on the basis of the preferential vote records of the ward elections authorities and enter them in preferential vote records for the area of responsibility of the municipality. 

90. (2) Following that, the district elections authority has to add the election results of the votes cast by means of postal voting to the election results referred to in Article 88, para 1, for the area of the electoral district, to report them to the competent provincial elections authority without delay as quickly as possible (immediate notification) and to enter them in a record. The results of the votes cast by means of postal voting are to be shown separately. After that, the district elections authority has to determine the preferential votes for each candidate on the party lists out of the votes cast by means of postal voting and enters them into preferential vote records. 

90. (4) Finally, the district elections authority has to determine, according to Article 91, the preferential votes for each candidate on the party lists of a provincial list of candidates published in the provincial constituency on the basis of the preferential vote records of the municipalities provided to it and on the basis of the preferential vote records referred to in para 2, last sentence, and enter them in preferential vote records for the area of the electoral district. 

91. (1) Each candidate on one of the party lists from one of the proposals for the provincial elections published in the respective provincial constituency, receives a preferential vote each time their name is correctly indicated by a voter on an official ballot paper (Articles 79, 82, para 2). (2) The total number of preferential votes received by a candidate, divided into provincial party list and regional party list, is determined by the district elections authority for the territory of the electoral districts and by the provincial elections authorities for the territories of the provincial constituency and of all its regional constituencies.

See also: Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesministerium f?r Inneres) 

Elections take place based on the principles of proportional representation, a closed list system, and preferential votes. For more details, see official website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.