Munich / Karlsruhe, August 13th. The Federal Constitutional Court surprisingly granted an urgent application by the CSU to supplement the electoral reform on Friday. In the Bundestag election on September 26th, those entitled to vote will not only be able to cast first and second votes as before, but also a “second vote plus”. For the first time in history, a yes-or-no question has to be answered. The judges adopted the wording suggestion made by CSU General Secretary Markus Blume: “Should the Union consider the decision on a candidate for Chancellor, which was rashly made in April in the back room, to be binding?”
Those entitled to vote have two options to tick. First: “Yes, it is right and important that such a decision in the committees is made completely independently of the basis and the expectations of the people.” Or secondly: “No, legitimation arises when one conducts politics in harmony with the majority of the people. The heart must not be cold.” CSU boss Markus Söder welcomed the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, but emphasized: “My place is in Bavaria.” Söder opened an art installation in Munich on Friday in which an anonymous artist (pseudonym “Hahnsy”) projects the values from the ZDF political barometer onto the Siegestor. “Honestly, a great idea,” said Söder.
According to the CSU, the counting of the “second vote plus” should take place in the Herrmann-Niemeyer process, if necessary also in the Saint-Laguë-Sibler process. “Both have our full confidence,” said Söder. Since the ballot papers have already been printed, Digital State Minister Dorothee Bär and the other female members of the CSU regional group in the Bundestag have begun to cross out the “2” by hand on all 60.4 million slips of paper for the sentence “You have 2 votes” a “3” to replace it.
“Without our strong women, the CSU would not be the party we love,” said Söder during a visit to the “Pen and Paper Election Hackathon” in the Bundesdruckerei’s parking lot. “Super effort, God bless it – and please wear a mask at work too!”