Friday, October 1st, 2021
Federal government wants clarification
Federal Returning Officer apparently warned Berlin
The federal government calls for clarification after the election chaos in Berlin. Before the election, the federal returning officer warned of a loophole for fraud, according to a report. The regional returning officer had to hectically change the counting method for postal voters.
After mistakes and mishaps on election Sunday in Berlin, the federal government is calling for a thorough investigation. “It is the responsibility of the responsible authorities in Berlin to clearly process what has happened,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert. In the meantime, several sides have announced complaints against the election. As things stand, experts and politicians consider it unlikely that the whole ballot will have to be repeated.
On Sunday, the elections for the Bundestag, the House of Representatives and the district assemblies as well as a referendum with many irregularities took place in Berlin. Among other things, ballot papers from different districts were swapped or they ran out, so that eligible voters had to wait a long time. Polling stations therefore stayed open longer. Some citizens still voted while forecasts were already being published.
As the “Spiegel” reports, there should have been a warning from Federal Returning Officer Georg Thiel before the election Sunday. He noticed a loophole for possible fraud. In the election for the district parliaments, young people aged 16 and over and EU foreigners were also allowed to vote. When voting by post, all ballot papers should be in one envelope. Thiel pointed out that people who were only allowed to participate in the district elections could also submit slips of paper for the federal election without being recognized. As a result, the state election officer had to hectically change the counting method for postal voters, wrote the magazine.
Districts and Giffey see no reason for by-election
Government spokesman Seibert said: “You can understand every Berlin voter who was amazed on Sunday how things went in individual polling stations, some of which were extremely annoyed that ballot papers were missing and everything else that was reported. ” This would raise urgent questions. When asked whether the events could damage Germany’s reputation, Seibert said: “You can do better advertising for yourself.”
The breakdowns are also sharply criticized in Berlin. CDU top candidate Kai Wegner spoke of an embarrassing election disaster. The satire party The party says it is preparing an election review complaint. The top candidate of the Free Voters in Berlin, Marcel Luthe, expects a re-election.
The potential governing mayor Franziska Giffey of the SPD sees it differently. A solid processing and consequences for the next election are necessary, “but I do not think that we will come to a completely new edition of this election,” said Giffey the broadcaster “Welt”.
Several districts said on request that there are currently no known reasons for a by-election. The exact examination could take another two weeks. The official final result is scheduled to be announced on October 14th. As things stand, the Cologne constitutional lawyer Markus Ogorek gives objections little chance.
“If I had to commit myself today, my prognosis would be that despite all the errors, an election contest would not be successful due to a lack of mandate relevance,” said the expert from the “Heilbronner Voice”. Mandate relevance means that the errors would have consequences for the allocation of seats.