Integration and foreigners’ council election campaigns in Germany

Rules by state

• North Rhine-Westphalia: under Section 27 of the municipal code (GO NRW), the council must be formed in municipalities with at least 5,000 foreign residents, and with at least 2,000 when 200 voters request it. Two thirds of its members are directly elected, one third are city councillors. It is elected on the day of the local elections, most recently on 14 September 2025. Since 1 November 2025 the body has been called “Ausschuss für Chancengerechtigkeit und Integration”.
• Hesse: under Section 84 of the Hessian municipal code (HGO), municipalities with more than 1,000 foreign residents form an Ausländerbeirat; since a 2020 amendment the council may set up an integration commission instead.
• Rhineland-Palatinate: under Section 56 of the municipal code (GemO), municipalities with more than 1,000 foreign residents form a Beirat für Migration und Integration, whose members are elected for five years in a general, equal, secret and direct election.

Other states and municipalities name, require and elect such councils differently; the details are in the relevant municipal code and the municipality’s statute (Satzung).

Who can vote

The rules depend on the state. In North Rhine-Westphalia, non-German residents and people who acquired German citizenship through naturalisation can vote; voters must be at least 16, and those holding only a foreign nationality must have lived lawfully in Germany for at least a year. In Rhineland-Palatinate, foreign nationals, stateless people and naturalised citizens can also vote from the age of 16. Each municipality publishes the exact conditions in its election notice, and our content follows those notices.

The communication challenge

Many eligible voters do not know they can vote, especially naturalised citizens. A campaign therefore has to explain who can vote, where and how, as clearly as it introduces its candidates. We produce content in Turkish and German with one consistent design.

What we prepare

• List identity: name, logo or mark, colours and social templates
• Candidate introductions: portraits and short Turkish and German videos
• Voter information on eligibility, election day and polling stations, based on the municipality’s official notices
• List website or a single information page, including Impressum and privacy page
• Printed and digital material for announcements in associations, mosques and cultural centres

Filming in Germany, production in Gebze

We plan filming and meeting days in Germany in blocks. Design, editing, websites and social media are handled by the same team in Gebze. German copy is written by German-speaking team members and approved by the candidate’s team; Turkish versions and subtitles can be added on request.

Approval, rules and neutrality

Every visual, film, post and page is approved by the candidate or campaign team before it goes live. Party design guidelines are followed where they exist; compliance with election law and data protection (GDPR) is checked by the candidate’s team and legal adviser. We do not give legal advice; we provide a commercial service to the candidate who hires us and express no political views.