Upcoming European polls - Higher Voter Turnout in Hamburg Compared to Five Years Ago
In Hamburg, there's a larger number of people casting their votes in the European and district assembly elections than there were five years ago. By 2 PM, 48.8% of eligible voters had voted in the European election, about 4.7 percentage points higher than in 2019, as stated by the state electoral officer. In the district assembly elections, the turnout was 46.1%, a little lower but still 5.4 percentage points more than it was back then.
The state electoral officer mentioned that mail-in ballots are now included in these numbers, which had lower participation rates in 2019 than this year. This means it's unclear whether voter turnout has actually increased or if it's just a shift in voting patterns.
Earlier in the day, Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) voted at a polling station in Barmbek and encouraged all Hamburgers and Hamburgers to also make their way to the polls. He stressed the importance of supporting democracy, especially with high voter turnout.
Over 1.3 million people in the city were eligible to vote for the European Parliament and the seven district assemblies. For the European vote, 34 parties were listed on the ballot. In the district assembly elections, there were 61 unique ballots available in the city's 54 constituencies. Polling stations closed at 6 PM.
The preliminary official results for the European election will be announced in the evening, while the district assembly elections will begin counting votes on Monday morning.
Back in 2015, the Greens had an impressive showing, winning both elections with record-breaking numbers. In the European election, they received 31.1% of the votes. The SPD came in second with 19.8%, suffering significant losses. The CDU scored 17.7%, the Left had 7.0%, the AfD got 6.5%, and the FDP managed 5.6%.
For the district assembly elections, the Greens again emerged as the winners, getting 31.3% of all votes across the city. The SPD was second with 24%, while the CDU grabbed 18.2%, the Left took 10.8%, the FDP received 6.6%, and the AfD got 6.4%.
By 2019, the voter turnout in the European election in Hamburg was 61.9%, and for the district assembly elections, 58.0% of eligible voters showed up.
