Vote again
Election repeat in Berlin: CDU and AfD make slight gains – turnout is lower than in 2021
In parts of Berlin, the September 2021 federal election was repeated on Sunday (archive image)
© Hauke-Christian Dittrich / DPA
In the repeat of the federal election in Berlin, fewer people cast their votes than in the original election in September 2021. According to an initial trend, the CDU and AfD were able to record slight gains.
In the partial repeat of the federal election in Berlin, there are signs of slight gains for the CDU and AfD. The traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP are losing some ground compared to the overall result for 2021. This is based on information from the state election authority on the Internet, according to which around 95 percent of all electoral areas have been counted as of 8:15 p.m. This information is based on the valid results from 2021 and the results of the partial repeat on Sunday that have already been counted.
Based on this still incomplete interim result, the CDU and AfD can expect an increase of around one percentage point. The SPD, Greens and FDP must each expect losses of around 0.7 percentage points. According to these interim results, the left remains roughly stable.
There will initially be no change to the order of the parties in the 2021 federal election. At the first attempt at the election in Berlin, the SPD was in the lead almost two and a half years ago (23.4 percent of the second votes), followed by the Greens (22.4), CDU (15.9), Left (11.4), FDP (9 .1) and AfD (8.4).
Voter turnout lower than in September 2021
However, fewer people had cast their votes by Sunday afternoon than in 2021. According to the state returning officer, 40.2 percent of those eligible to vote voted in the 455 affected electoral districts by 4 p.m. Converted to the whole of Berlin using the valid results from 2021, the voter turnout was 54.1 percent. This was 3.8 percent less than in the original election. No major breakdowns were reported this time.
Affected by the partial repetition of the Around a fifth of Berlin’s electoral districts took part in the Bundestag election. Almost 550,000 eligible voters were called upon to vote again. A change in the majority in the Bundestag is not expected. However, shifts for individual MPs are possible.
The highest voter turnout was reported at 4 p.m. at 61.1 percent from the Steglitz-Zehlendorf constituency, the lowest from the Pankow constituency at 45.4 percent, as the state returning officer announced. The polls closed at 6 p.m.
455 of 2256 Berlin electoral districts affected by repetition
During the federal election in September 2021, long queues formed in front of some polling stations in the capital. The reason was missing or incorrect ballot papers, and in some cases there were too few voting booths. The Federal Constitutional Court decided in December that the federal election must therefore be repeated in 455 of Berlin’s 2,256 electoral districts. In September 2021, in addition to the federal election, the elections for the Berlin House of Representatives and the district council assemblies as well as the vote in a referendum took place on the same day.
Because of the feared low turnout in the repeat election, state returning officer Stephan Bröchler has repeatedly called for people to vote in the past few days. His authority also organized a campaign with celebrities under the motto “Berlin needs your voice!”. In 2021, voter turnout across Berlin was 75.2 percent, and nationwide it was 76.6 percent.
Pankow was the most affected by the repetition of Berlin’s twelve constituencies, where the votes of more than 85 percent of voters were annulled. This was followed by Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf with 42.7 percent, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg-Prenzlauer Berg Ost with 33.8 percent and Reinickendorf with 31.7 percent. In almost all other constituencies, less than ten percent were asked to vote again.
Preliminary overall results probably only on Monday night
Predictions from the polling institutes were not expected immediately after the polls closed at 6 p.m. The counted results should be announced gradually. The state returning officer expects that a preliminary overall result can be announced around 1:30 a.m. on Monday night. Federal Returning Officer Ruth Brand will then publish the adjusted preliminary nationwide final result of the federal election.
Across Berlin, the SPD became the strongest force in the 2021 federal election with 23.4 percent. This was followed by the Greens with 22.4 percent, the CDU with 15.9 percent and the Left with 11.4 percent. The FDP received 9.1 percent, the AfD 8.4 percent, other parties received 9.4 percent. Nationwide, the SPD was in first place, followed by the Union, the Greens, the FDP and the AfD.