Two votes do not mean two marks anywhere you like.
The first vote chooses a constituency candidate. The second selects a state list. In the existing image, the first-vote column is black on the left and the second-vote column blue on the right. What matters is that each type of vote has an unambiguous choice.
In image 1, the left mark is beside a CDU candidate and the right beside the SPD list. This is permitted and is called split-ticket voting. The marks need not be on the same row or for the same party.
The other three answers
Check both columns separately in each incorrect image.
2
Image 2 shows two marks beside different lists on the right and none on the left. The second vote is therefore ambiguous; the first vote has not been cast.
3
Image 3 has two marks beside different candidates on the left and none on the right. The first vote does not identify one choice; the second vote is missing.
4
Image 4 has three marks on the left and none on the right. Selecting several candidates at once does not produce an unambiguous first vote; no second vote has been cast either.
One invalid vote does not always invalidate the other.
A voter may cast only one of the two votes. The uncast vote is then invalid, while the other may count if properly marked. Unclear markings are likewise assessed under electoral law. These four examples do not decide every possible ballot case.
The unchanged image comes from the existing question bank and shows excerpts bearing the 2021 federal-election date. It is not a template for someone’s current ballot. The clear-marking rule and permitted split-ticket voting explained here were checked against current rules.
Sections 34 and 39 · Federal Elections Act ↗One clear choice per vote. Image 1: one left, one right.
Do not confuse two types of vote with two arbitrary marks. Different parties are permitted; several simultaneous choices in the same column are different.
Three words for this question
- der Stimmzettelballot paper
- The official paper on which electoral choices are marked.
- eindeutigunambiguous
- Clear enough to identify the intended nomination.
- das Stimmensplittingsplit-ticket voting
- First and second votes support a candidate and list from different parties.