Emmanuel Thomas I DPA, Tuesday, July 18, 2023
BERLIN – Almost two years after botched national and state elections in Berlin, Germany’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday began deliberations over problems seen at some local polling stations on election day.
The Berlin national and state-level elections, both held on September 26, 2021, made international headlines due to chaos at many polling stations in the capital. There were long queues and waiting times and wrong or missing ballot papers.
Both votes were declared invalid by Berlin’s Constitutional Court due to “serious systemic flaws” and numerous electoral errors.
The botched state election was re-run in Berlin in February this year, ultimately leading to a change of mayor.
The Second Senate of Germany’s highest court, which handles constitutional and electoral complaints, will now consider a complaint made by the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) about the shortcomings of the national parliamentary vote in Berlin.
The CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), filed an election review complaint.
The parliamentary elections in 2021 ended over a decade and a half of conservative-led government in Germany.
The CDU and CSU are arguing for the parliamentary election to be rerun in more constituencies in the capital than so far decided. Over 60 other constitutional complaints have been filed relating to the Bundestag elections.
The Constitutional Court proceedings will review the extent to which long waiting times and votes cast after the official poll close at 6 pm constituted electoral irregularities.
The number of electoral districts needing to repeat the election will also be examined.
“As you can see, we have a handsome programme for today,” said the chairwoman of the legal proceedings Doris König on Tuesday. A decision is expected in a few months.
