WABEO is a platform that unites citizens from all social and political backgrounds. Our goal is to make elections transparent and secure. We organize court-compliant election observation with verified election observers across the country for analog elections such as federal and state elections.
We also make democratic decisions more secure in the virtual realm. Our partner organizations can use verification as an access requirement to protect themselves from fake accounts and bots.
Election observation is a cornerstone of free elections. It guarantees the transparency of the election process and thereby protects against possible election manipulation. This is easiest to understand when the public is excluded. Then it is possible that the elections were manipulated. The opposite can only be proven if the public was watching.
Election observers and the press are the only public present at elections. Election officials are not the public. They are part of the process. Therefore, election observation increases confidence in democracy. It ensures that all votes are counted and processed correctly.
Any citizen can observe elections. Even without verifying. This applies to people of all age groups, all political persuasions, and all walks of life. Citizenship also doesn't matter - You only need a permanent residence and a bank account in Your own name to participate on the platform.
However, election observation alone is ineffective because a single observer has no chance of filing an objection. Only those who join an election observer group and observe elections together as a "verified WABEO" with many other people have the chance to legally enforce something in case of observed violations.
Yes, of course. The WABEO team maintains mail-in voting locations in the database of all bookable polling locations. These can then be booked just like any other polling locations. However, this data is only available a few days before the election and may also be incomplete because municipalities are only required to publish the counting locations for mail-in voting 7 days before the election. This makes it extremely difficult to get this data.
It also takes longer to observe mail-in vote counting. Preparation for counting usually begins early in the afternoon (between 2:00 - 4:00 PM depending on the municipality). The actual counting of ballots then takes place like in a regular polling office from 6:00 PM onwards. So You need to bring more time if You want to observe a mail-in voting location.
Because there are more processes in mail-in vote counting than in ballot box voting, we recommend that all observers in a mail-in district take WABEO's training and get certified.
You register with Your first and last name, email and Your place of residence. Then You order a TAN letter for a contribution of €6.49. The TAN letter comes to You by mail. After that, You verify Yourself by transferring a donation from Your own bank account to our association, where You specify the TAN number from the letter in the reference. Then You are a "verified WABEO".
Verifying Your name by bank transfer from Your own account serves identity verification. The name You provided during registration must match the name on Your bank account to ensure that Your registered name is the same as the one in Your ID. This is necessary to make the election observation "court-compliant".
Without verification, You cannot reserve a polling station and will also not receive documentation for the statutory declaration. Only those willing to vouch for the authenticity of reported results with their own name can help protect our democratic institutions from manipulation. Anonymity unfortunately does not help in this case.
The WABEO set contains all necessary materials, including:
No, experience is not necessary. The WABEO set and our app will guide You through the process step by step.
After You have completed, signed and photographed the forms with the results of the quick report on election evening, put them directly in the prepaid return envelope we included in the WABEO set. Through Your attestation of what You saw and heard, we can thus prove in court what results were actually achieved in the election.
The contribution of €5.00 is for covering direct costs like postage, envelopes, letters, handling, as well as an indirect contribution to the work and IT infrastructure. Only Your donation benefits the association. We do not charge any additional fees.
A donation of any amount (minimum €0.01) is ONLY necessary to verify Your identity if You did not pay for Your TAN-letter by bank transfer. Any donation helps us to further develop the platform and organize election observation.
Of course! Every contribution helps us strengthen democracy and make WABEO a success story.
The app allows You to document the election results in Your electoral district, photograph the signed forms directly on-site, and upload the data securely. A simple user interface makes the process intuitive.
Yes, using the app is required to upload the results digitally. If You don't own a smartphone, contact our support team so You can upload them on a PC the same evening.
Yes, Your data is used exclusively for election observation and stored securely. We strictly comply with applicable data protection laws. We use exclusively EU servers and do not share Your data with third parties.
All documented results are published on our website Election-Observers-for-Germany.de on election night. This is done according to the algorithm of the new election law and is transparent and verifiable for everyone.
All observations and documentation are recorded in a legally binding manner and can be submitted as evidence in proceedings if needed. Attorneys ensure that suspected cases are legally reviewed.