"The equality of the vote" is - given the current state of legal doctrine in constitutional law - still not satisfactorily clarified in its fundamentals. The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court regarding the constitutionality of overhang mandates on April 10, 1997, was the impetus for this publication. The focus is on examining the doctrinal content of electoral equality (Art. 38 para. 2 GG), particularly the permissibility of different electoral systems. In the historical section, Michael Wild reconstructs the theoretical assumptions about the basis of voting that shape the equality postulate in electoral law. Two opposing strands of tradition emerge regarding the understanding of the formation of the people's will. These are closely linked to the underlying understanding of the state: representation versus decision.