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After the mishaps of 2021: Berlin is voting again
A voter throws the ballot paper into the urn at a polling station in Berlin-Pankow. photo
© Christoph Soeder/dpa
It is the first repeat election ordered by the Federal Constitutional Court in the history of the Federal Republic: After the mishaps in September 2021, the Bundestag will be re-elected in parts of Berlin.
Around two and a half years after the 2021 federal election, which was marred by mishaps This is partly repeated in Berlin. The polling stations have been open since Sunday at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. It is eagerly awaited to see how high the voter turnout will be.
According to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, new elections will take place in 455 of 2,256 electoral districts and the associated postal voting districts, i.e. around a fifth. 549,549 Berliners are called to vote.
The election in the capital will not change the majority in the Bundestag. The proportion of those eligible to vote in Berlin on Sunday compared to the total number at the federal level is only 0.9 percent. However, small shifts are possible. Some MPs could lose their seats in the Bundestag, others could move into parliament.
On September 26, 2021, Berlin botched both the federal election and the elections to the House of Representatives and the district parliaments in an unprecedented way. Long queues in front of polling stations, missing or incorrect ballot papers, a temporary interruption in voting in some places – the list of problems was long. The elections at the state and district level had already been completely repeated on February 12, 2023.
“The error must be cured”
From the point of view of State Returning Officer Stephan Bröchler, important precautions have now been taken to ensure a smooth process. “The mistake must be cured and only we, the citizens, can do that,” said Bröchler when casting his vote.
Bröchler visited electoral boards in Pankow and Mitte together with Federal Returning Officer Ruth Brand. She thanked those who helped with the election. “The effort for you is just as great as in a full federal election throughout Germany,” said Brand. This requires just as much commitment. This is extremely important for a vibrant democracy. Brand presented the helpers with cups with the imprint “Whoever votes, gets involved!” as a thank you.
Features of the choice
The parties were not allowed to put forward any new candidates; the ballot paper had to look like it did in 2021. This led, for example, to the former AfD member of the Bundestag Birgit Malsack-Winkemann formally running again, who had not made it into the Bundestag in 2021. She was arrested in a large-scale raid in December 2022 and is in custody. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office accuses her of membership and support of a (right-wing) terrorist organization. SPD candidate Michael Müller is on the ballot with the job title Governing Mayor. He was still that in 2021, but today he no longer holds the office.
Looking at voter turnout – Merkel has already voted
Voting is now taking place in all twelve Berlin federal parliamentary constituencies, although to very different degrees. In Pankow, 85 percent of the polling districts are affected, in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf 42 percent. In contrast, it is only 2.9 percent in Lichtenberg, 3.4 percent in Treptow-Köpenick and 6 percent in Marzahn-Hellersdorf. It is therefore clear that in some constituencies there cannot be any mathematical changes. Given this starting point, some fear that voter turnout will be low. In the 2021 federal election in Berlin as a whole, it was 75.2 percent.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is also among the affected voters. Merkel made use of the option of postal voting, as the office of the former Chancellor said. D. had communicated this upon request in January. Among the Berlin senators, Social Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) is the only one who was called to vote. Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and the other Senate members are not eligible to vote.
The election is the start of an important election year in Germany: the European elections are on June 9th, and there are three state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in September.