BGB (German Civil Code) came into effect on January 1, 1975, the age of consent was lowered from 21 to 18 years. This means that since the election of 1976 citizens have the right to vote and to run for office at the age of 18. Election of the 11th German Bundestag (25 January 1987) – Since the German federal election in 1987, the largest remainder method, which is neutral towards the size of the parties, has been applied instead of the D'Hondt method. The discrimination of/against small parties when distributing mandates (Proporzmandate) could hereby be completely abolished. Because of paradoxes that occur in the largest remainder method, the danger of negative vote weight expanded to all federal states, even to those without overhang seats. The voting right for Germans living abroad was introduced during this election. Election of the 12th German Bundestag (2 December 1990) – Briefly before the Bundestagswahl of 1990, the Federal Constitutional Court decided that the situation of the recently reunited Germany showed a special case. An electoral threshold for the entire election district was unconstitutional. For this reason, a party had to receive at least 5% of the second votes either in the old federal territory including West-Berlin or in the new federal territory in order to win seat in the German Bundestag (Lower House of German Parliament). This special regulation was only valid for the elections in 1990. In the federal states that were formerly part of Eastern Germany, including Berlin, 80 constituencies were added. Because of this, the number of constituencies increased to 328, the number of proportional mandates to 656. Another consequence of German reunification was the abolition of a special regulation for West Berlin. This regulation prescribed that the Berlin City Parliament elected 22 representatives into the Bundestag on the day of the federal election. Election of the 15th German Bundestag (22 September 2002) – For the election of the Bundestag in 2002, the number of constituencies was reduced from 328 to 299, as was the number of proportional mandates (from 656 to 598). Election of the 17th German Bundestag (27 September 2009) – For the 2009 election of the Bundestag, the Hare-Niemeyer method was replaced by the Sainte-Laguë/Schepers method. For the first time, parties could no longer nominate candidates who were members of other parties. The circle of Germans living abroad who are entitled to vote was extended. References Erhard