section_path: Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)/Election
section_name: Election
paragraph_text: Election
  
  The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag and formally appointed by the president of Germany. This can be done by means of a regular election of the chancellor or by a constructive vote of no confidence. A regular chancellor's election is necessary whenever the office of chancellor has fallen vacant. This is the case if a newly elected Bundestag meets for the first time, or during legislative periods, if the former chancellor died or resigned.
  
  The chancellor's election is one of the few cases in which a vote in the Bundestag requires a majority of all elected members, not just a majority of those assembled at the time, or the so-called Kanzlermehrheit ("chancellor majority"). As with other elections performed by the Bundestag, the chancellor is elected via secret ballot. The election procedure laid down in the Basic Law can be divided into three phases: