Election to the House of Representatives: court for repetition of the Berlin election

Election to the House of Representatives
Court for repetition of the Berlin election

Voters wait in a long line in front of a polling station in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin, Germany, September 26, 2021. photo

© Hauke-Christian Dittrich/dpa

There were numerous mishaps in the election to the Berlin House of Representatives a year ago. Was it valid at all? The State Constitutional Court has issued an assessment.

According to a preliminary assessment, the Berlin Constitutional Court considers a complete repetition of the election to the Berlin House of Representatives to be necessary. This was stated by court president Ludgera Selting on Wednesday at the start of the oral hearing. There were a large number of electoral errors in the preparation and conduct of the election. According to a preliminary assessment, these were relevant to the mandate – according to the court’s assessment, they had an impact on the composition of Parliament and the distribution of mandates. A constitutional state can only be brought about by a complete re-election.

A good year after the elections to the Berlin House of Representatives, which were overshadowed by mishaps, the Supreme Court of Berlin is reviewing their validity. The oral hearing on Wednesday is considered an important step in the political and legal processing of the omissions on September 26, 2021. A decision is not expected on Wednesday, but is theoretically possible.

On September 26, 2021, the Bundestag, the Berlin House of Representatives and the twelve district councils were elected in Berlin. There was also a referendum on the expropriation of large housing groups. There were massive problems, such as wrong or missing ballot papers, the temporary closure of polling stations and long queues in front of them, sometimes with waiting times of hours.

The court has received a total of 35 objections to the assessment of the elections to the Berlin House of Representatives and the twelve district parliaments, four of which are to be negotiated first. It is about the complaints of the state returning authority, the internal administration and the parties AfD and the party.

dpa

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