Elections - Repeat election: Hundreds of thousands of Berliners receive mail
Shortly after the turn of the year, the parties launched their campaign for the repeat Bundestag election in parts of Berlin. Posters have been advertising the candidates again since Tuesday. On February 11, around 550,000 Berliners will be able to vote again in 455 of Berlin's 2256 constituencies. Election documents will be sent to them from Wednesday. State election director Stephan Bröchler called on people to use their vote. A high turnout is very important, he told dpa.
The reason for the repetition are numerous mishaps in Berlin polling stations on September 26, 2021, when the state parliament was also elected at the same time. Ballot papers were incorrect or missing altogether. The election was interrupted by more than 100 minutes in some cases. In some cases, queues were so long that some people were only able to vote after the official close of voting at 6.00 pm. This is why the election to the House of Representatives was completely repeated in February 2023.
On 19 December, the Federal Constitutional Court confirmed that the errors were also "relevant to the mandate" in the Bundestag election, meaning that other people might have been elected under normal conditions. In their ruling, the judges in Karlsruhe set the scope of the rerun at around a fifth of Berlin's electoral districts.
"It is important that as many Berliners as possible make use of the opportunity to cast their vote," said state election director Bröchler to the German Press Agency. "We want to achieve a voter turnout around the level we had in the repeat election last February, i.e. around 60 percent."
A low turnout would be detrimental to democracy, said Bröchler. "Because then it becomes clear that going to the polling station or voting by post is not considered as important." However, the administrative scientist emphasized: "Even under these difficult conditions, we have to show that we stand for our democracy."
The repetition is unlikely to change the overall distribution of votes in the Bundestag. Parliament currently has 736 MPs, 29 of whom come from all over Berlin. According to simulations, two to three seats could be redistributed between the parties in Berlin.
However, there could be surprising consequences for other federal states. After the partial rerun, the overall result of the 2021 Bundestag election will be recalculated. "There may therefore be shifts in the distribution of seats across federal states," according to information from Federal Returning Officer Ruth Brand. "This may also result in new seat gains and losses in other federal states."
Bröchler sees the election date as a complication. "It's the last day of the winter vacations. Many people will be on vacation and may not be back until Sunday." This makes the option of postal voting all the more important this time.
Statement from the Federal Constitutional Court on the ruling of 19.12. Questions and answers from the Federal Returning Officer on the partial rerun of the Bundestag election in Berlin
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- Stephan Bröchler, the state election director, urged Berliners to vote in the repeat Bundestag election, highlighting the importance of a high turnout for democracy.
- The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled that errors in the Bundestag election in Berlin in September 2021 were "relevant to the mandate," leading to a repeat election in February 2023.
- Around 550,000 Berliners will have the opportunity to vote again in 455 of the city's constituencies, with election documents being sent out starting from Wednesday.
- Bröchler expressed hope that Berliners would turn out to vote in the repeat election at a similar level to last February's election, with around 60% voter turnout being the goal.
- The repeat election in parts of Berlin is expected to have little impact on the overall distribution of votes in the Bundestag, but could have unexpected consequences for other federal states.
- Bröchler acknowledged the challenges posed by the election date falling on the last day of winter vacations, making postal voting a more attractive option for many Berliners.
Source: www.stern.de
