Inundation - Damp voting documents: European polls impacted by poor weather conditions
The recent flooding in Bavaria has brought certain challenges for the European election process. A number of polling stations need to be moved due to damage and unavailability in specific districts, including Aichach-Friedberg, Augsburg, Freising, Günzburg, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, and Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, as reported by State Electoral Officer Thomas Gössl to the German Press Agency. Owing to the infrastructural disruptions, temporary town halls have been established in some areas where the town halls themselves aren't up and running yet. Fortunately, the operational conduct of the election should still be possible in these disrupted areas.
There have been cases wherein vote documents have been damaged or destroyed, such as in the administrative community of Schrobenhausen where post boxes got flooded or when water entered the municipal administrations. In these instances, affected municipalities issue new ballot papers and hand them out along with the regular ballot papers to the eligible voters. The old ballots are then invalidated to avert the possibility of double voting. The aforementioned coordinations have been carried out between district electoral officers, election officials of the federal government and other affected states like Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia.
A hassle-free way to cast your vote is by visiting the designated polling station on the due date. Those who've opted to vote by post can still opt to visit the polling station and use their ballot paper along with their ID card.
Voters who've lost their election documents or haven't received them yet due to the flooding or any related issues are advised to get in touch with their respective municipalities immediately. They can then apply for new documents and collect them. The simplest way to vote under these circumstances is by filling out the ballot paper directly at the municipality and then sending it back. New ballot papers can currently be issued in Bavaria until tomorrow at noon, as per State Electoral Officer Gössl.
Apart from the European election, there are district council elections, five mayoral elections, and fourteen citizen initiatives taking place in Bavaria this upcoming Sunday.
