Bundestag election 2021 in Berlin must be partly repeated
Published: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 12:20
Updated At: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 12:20
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Due to numerous glitches, the 2021 Bundestag election in Berlin will have to be repeated in around one-sixth of the constituencies. This was decided by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on Tuesday.
The presiding judge, Doris König, said that a new election would have to be held in 455 constituencies and the associated postal voting districts. An electoral review complaint by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag was thus only partially successful. Stephan Bröchler, the state electoral officer, announced February 11 as the date for the partial re-run on Tuesday.
With its ruling, the highest German court did not follow a decision of the Bundestag one-to-one. The Bundestag had decided with the votes of the "traffic light" parliamentary groups SPD, Greens and FDP that the election should be partially repeated. This would have affected 327 of the capital's 2256 constituencies and 104 of the 1507 postal voting districts.
In the view of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, however, the decision was unlawful, among other things because the Bundestag had not declared the election invalid in six constituencies contested by the Federal Returning Officer. It therefore filed a lawsuit in Karlsruhe.
The Federal Constitutional Court has now declared the election invalid in a further 31 constituencies as named in the Bundestag's decision. However, the decision was largely lawful.
Election day on September 26, 2021 was chaotic at many polling stations in Berlin: People had to wait a long time and queue, ballot papers were incorrect or missing altogether. Polling stations had to close temporarily or remained open until well after 6 p.m. - the time when voting should actually be over. This is when the first predictions are usually made.
The simultaneous election to the Berlin House of Representatives has already had to be completely repeated. This took place on February 12 of this year and led to a change of power in the German capital. For the first time in 22 years, the Christian Democrats are now the governing mayor again.
The parliamentary majority of the "traffic light" coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is not in danger due to the partial rerun that has now been ordered. It could become critical for the Left Party if it loses one of the two direct mandates it won in Berlin in 2021. The next general election in Germany is scheduled for late summer or early fall 2025. According to current polls, opposition leader Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats would win.
©Keystone/SDA
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