Several mishaps in the federal election
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Traffic light majority in the examination committee wants new elections in 400 Berlin constituencies
Partial new elections in Berlin are becoming more and more likely. In any case, the traffic light coalition wants to recommend this to the Election Review Committee. If the Bundestag also agrees, it could go to the polls again in spring 2023.
The majority of the traffic light coalition will probably recommend that the election examination committee of the Bundestag that the Bundestag elections in Berlin should not be repeated in full, but in part. Around 400 constituencies in all twelve Berlin constituencies are affected. Johannes Fechner (SPD), chairman of the election examination committee and parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, confirmed this to rbb on Thursday. first had “The mirror” reported about it.
According to Fechner, the factions of the SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed to initiate a recommended resolution. The recommendation should be that new elections should take place in around 400 of the 2,300 constituencies.
All twelve constituencies would be at least partially affected. The focus of the affected electoral districts is in Reinickendorf, Mitte, Pankow, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
According to Fechner, the fundamental decision has now been made by the traffic light coalition in the federal government. However, the actual vote in the election examination committee will only take place after the summer break, probably in October, Fechner told rbb. Then it would have to be voted on in the Bundestag itself. This could happen a few days later.
If the Bundestag plenary votes in favor of repeating the elections in Berlin, Fechner says he believes that partial new elections in Berlin in the spring of 2023 are realistic.
Fechner described the move to recommend a partial new election as “new legal territory”. Since the right to vote is the “key opportunity for citizens to participate”, Fechner continued, he considered the recommendation to partially realign the federal elections justified – in view of the massive problems with the elections last September. “People have to regain their trust in the electoral organization,” said Fechner. However, it is correct that the federal election should not be repeated in its entirety, but only in part – “only where serious mistakes have been made”.
Broadcast: Inforadio, July 7th, 2022, 8:40 p.m