The parliament in Germany will now have 736 members, as Federal Returning Officer Georg Thiel said at a meeting of the Federal Electoral Committee in Berlin on Friday. The additional mandate goes to the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU, the reason being a plus in the two votes counted.
According to reports, the additional mandate goes to the CDU MP Jürgen Hardt. The Greens may lose a mandate, but gain one in Bavaria. The “Wahlrecht.de” portal had previously reported on the additional seat.
Federal election officer examines objection because of Berlin
In the case of the second votes, there is no difference in the final result compared to the provisional result announced the morning after the election. Accordingly, the Union comes to 24.1 percent, the SPD to 25.7 percent. The Greens can book 14.8 percent, the FDP 11.5 and the AfD 10.3. With 4.9 percent, the left missed the five percent hurdle, but is still represented in parliamentary groups in the Bundestag because of three direct mandates.
Because of the irregularities in the elections that occurred in Berlin, Thiel wants to examine an objection to the Bundestag election result in the federal capital. The frequency of the mistakes that happened in Berlin was “awkward and noticeable,” he said. However, the irregularities had no effect on the announcement of the final election results. Rather, the examination of the occurrences can now begin.
Despite many irregularities in Berlin, no impact on the final election result
In Berlin, on September 26th, the ballot papers ran out in several polling stations, and individual polling stations were temporarily closed. In some cases, false ballot papers were also issued.
In many places, long queues formed, so that in individual cases polling stations did not close until around 8 p.m. or later. Thiel said that the electoral boards would have acted correctly in principle if they left the polling stations open for longer. Anyone who comes by 6 p.m. must also be able to cast their vote. The processes are “unacceptable.”
Thiel pointed out that the traditional marathon had taken place in Berlin at the same time as the general election on September 26th. Special precautions should have been taken for this, said the Federal Returning Officer. The occasional objection that the marathon had been part of international sports calendars for a long time “irritates me,” he added.
The state election control in Berlin has already announced that it will object to the result of the election to the House of Representatives, which also took place on September 26th. (AFP)