Union demands more comprehensive repetition and new elections in 431 constituencies.
The Bundestag has spoken out in favor of repeating the Bundestag elections in a total of 431 Berlin voting districts. Late on Thursday evening, the plenary followed a corresponding recommendation by the Election Review Committee with the votes of the coalition, which wants to use the partial repetition to draw the conclusions from the numerous mishaps in the federal elections in September 2021.
The partial repetition did not go far enough for the Union, they wanted to have completely re-elected in six of the twelve Berlin constituencies. However, the decision now only provides for a new ballot in 431 of around 2300 voting districts, with first and second votes. “The election day in the state of Berlin was marked by numerous irregularities and problems with regard to the organization and conduct of the election,” says the draft that has now been accepted.
It is still unclear when the partial repetition of the Bundestag elections will take place. Because the Federal Constitutional Court can still be appealed against the Bundestag decision. Therefore, the vote could drag on until 2024.
There were numerous mishaps in the elections for the Bundestag and the House of Representatives in Berlin on September 26 last year. There were no ballot papers, and long queues formed in front of the polling stations. Some polling stations closed in between or stayed open much longer than 6 p.m. Accordingly, there were objections to the result. The competent committee of the Bundestag received 1,713 election objections.
The CDU/CSU had pushed for a far more comprehensive rerun of the election. “In view of the numerous and significant electoral errors that undisputedly took place in Berlin, a re-election limited to individual polling districts is not sufficient,” the parliamentary group said in a statement. The coalition’s proposal is not suitable for regaining “the lost trust in the correctness of the parliamentary elections”. The AfD also called for a complete repetition in at least six constituencies.
In addition to the question of repeat elections at Bundestag level, a decision must also be made in Berlin on repeating the elections at the level of the House of Representatives. The Berlin Constitutional Court will decide on this on November 16th.
