What will voting look like in the future? Will we continue to throw our ballot papers into the bin? On the occasion of the Bundestag elections in 2025, the HFBK Hamburg is organising a competition to redesign the ballot box. The deadline for entries is 14 April 2025.

Voting in an election is the central moment in which the population actively exercises its democratic power,’ says the HFBK Hamburg in its call for entries. The fact that rubbish bins are being used as ballot boxes in some German constituencies seems all the more inappropriate. So far, the Federal Election Law does not directly stipulate which container should be used as a ballot box. Only its dimensions and the fact that it can be closed with a lid with a gap of no more than two centimetres are required. As a result, there may be regional differences in the type of ballot box provided by local authorities.
Professor Sven T. Siefken from the Federal University of Applied Sciences has been researching the topic of parliamentarianism for years and thinks that litter bins are inappropriate as urns. As part of the five-year research project Redesigning Democratic Representation (Re-De-Re), funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, the University of Applied Sciences, together with the University of Fine Arts Hamburg and in cooperation with the German Design Club e.V. (DDC) and Demokratie Innovation e.V., organised an ideas and design competition for more attractive ballot boxes.
Applicants are invited to propose improvements to the design of the ballot boxes and their spatial and performative staging. The aim is to find an appropriate and contemporary framework for the act of voting – and thereby strengthen democracy. From disruptive visions to product ideas – all designs can be submitted until 14 April 2025.
A jury made up of representatives from politics, society and design will select the best entries. Prize money totalling 3,000 euros is up for grabs. Selected designs will be presented to the public at an award ceremony and as part of an exhibition in the World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain.
All details about the competition – submission formats, jury members, question colloquium, date of the award ceremony, etc. – will be available here from 17 February 2025.
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