A lot went wrong in Berlin in the last federal election. The Federal Constitutional Court is now examining in how many constituencies in the capital the election must be repeated.
It is still not clear to what extent the federal elections in Berlin will have to be repeated. The Union is demanding new elections in around half of the more than two thousand Berlin electoral districts. During the election examination, the Bundestag had decided that only 431 districts should be re-elected.
The chaotic Berlin election of September 2021 is still occupying the highest German court. This has to do with the fact that the people in Berlin had to vote on three different political levels at the same time – on the one hand, representatives for the Berlin districts had to be elected, on the other hand for the Berlin House of Representatives, i.e. the state parliament. And thirdly also for the Bundestag.
Not voting all over Berlin?
The elections for the districts and the Berlin House of Representatives were repeated in September 2021 because of the chaos. The Federal Constitutional Court stayed away from complaints because it was basically only about state issues. And so, on February 12 of this year, a new election was actually held.
However, this did not clarify whether the election for the Bundestag would have to be repeated again. For this third level, the Bundestag had determined after complaints that not everyone in all of Berlin had to vote again – but only voters in a few hundred electoral districts. People should only vote again where errors have really been proven, for example where voting in the original election was interrupted, where polling stations were still open after 6:30 p.m. or where voting was not possible due to missing or incorrect ballot papers.
The CDU has turned to the court
In how many of the more than two thousand Berlin constituencies the federal elections will be called again is currently unclear. The Union faction has therefore turned to the Federal Constitutional Court.
Patrick Schnieder, member of the Bundestag for the CDU, says that it is not enough to just hold elections in a few hundred districts: “We are of the opinion that the trust in this election that has been lost cannot be restored in the slightest.” From the point of view of the Union faction, new elections have to be held in more than a thousand, i.e. a good half, of the constituencies because of the many errors.
Re-election may not change much
The SPD thinks that’s too much. “We also have to see that the people who cast their votes can trust that this vote will not be prematurely overturned by a repeat election,” says SPD MP Johannes Fechner. That’s why you limit yourself to the constituencies where errors were found.
Both sides agree that the new election, regardless of the extent, may not change much. “The composition of the Bundestag will not change significantly,” says Fechner. “It’s possible that Berlin gets fewer MPs due to a low turnout. But that would affect all parties.”
The judges in Karlsruhe will probably discuss in today’s oral hearing which standards apply to a repeat election, when it must take place and to what extent. The verdict is not expected for a few months.