State Returning Officer confirms election glitch
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Uncounted postal votes discovered
According to state returning officer Stephan Bröchler, there was a major election glitch: According to this, votes from around 450 ballot letters have not yet been counted. That should now be made up for. There is “pressure from all sides,” said Bröchler.
Two days after the repeat election in Berlin, the votes from around 450 absentee ballot letters have to be counted and added to the result. That said state returning officer Stephan Bröchler on Tuesday.
According to Bröchler, the ballot letters apparently arrived quite late in the Lichtenberg district and were left uncounted on Sunday. It is unclear how the breakdown came about, and the responsible district election committee still has to clarify that.
450 is about the “right size”
There were communication problems in the district election office, “the slips were there, but were not forwarded correctly.” How and why is now being clarified. The “Spiegel” had previously reported.
Bröchler said the votes should be counted in the next few days and the result then communicated. “It is important that no voice has been lost.” When asked by an rbb reporter, Bröchler did not give the exact number of letters, but the number 450 was about the right order of magnitude.
According to Bröchler, it could also be the case that there were incomplete documents in some postal ballot envelopes, which would then invalidate the vote.
Bröchler: “There is pressure from all sides”
Bröchler expects to get the results of the investigation this week. This is important because between February 20th and 22nd the district electoral committees meet, and on February 27th the state electoral committee meets. “There is pressure from all sides and I think that’s a good thing,” said Bröchler.
There are currently no indications that further incidents have occurred, Bröchler continues. According to the preliminary result of the Berlin House of Representatives elections so far, the SPD is in second place, only 105 votes ahead of the Greens in third place.
Broadcast: rbb24 evening show, 02/14/23, 7:30 p.m