In the case of roll-call votes in municipal council meetings, not only the „no“ votes may be recorded in the minutes. The Administrative Court (VGH) in Munich has now declared this practice of a Bavarian municipality to be unlawful because it violates the constitutionally guaranteed equality of mandates of council members (case no.: 4 ZB 23.1795 of 10 July 2024). According to the court's press release, the members of the municipal council who voted „no„ could be more easily identified by outsiders and could therefore “more easily be personally associated with the decision taken and held accountable in public than those - initially nameless - who voted “yes"".

In principle, according to the municipal code applicable in Bavaria, municipalities have a great deal of leeway when recording voting results. For example, it is permissible to record the yes and no votes or who voted for and against a motion. „However, care must be taken to ensure that all council members“ votes are treated equally - regardless of how they voted," says Rechtsanwalt Dr Dominik Lück.

The contact person for all questions relating to municipal law in our practice is Rechtsanwalt Dr Dominik Lück.