In just under two weeks, the breakdown election to the Berlin House of Representatives is to be repeated in its entirety. Not everyone thinks that’s right. Will the Federal Constitutional Court just stop everything?
The election campaign is on, preparations are in full swing – but can the re-election for the Berlin House of Representatives really take place on February 12 as planned? That will be cleared up on Tuesday (9.30 a.m.). Critics of the planned complete repetition of the breakdown election have complained in Karlsruhe. A decision will now be published in this process. The Federal Constitutional Court announced this at short notice on Monday.
In principle, the Berlin Constitutional Court is responsible for examining objections to an election to the House of Representatives. This had declared the election of September 26, 2021 as a whole invalid. The judges saw no other option: “In view of the large number and seriousness of the electoral errors, a selective repetition of elections in individual constituencies would not be suitable for creating a constitutional situation,” they explained.
There was no regular appeal against the Berlin judgment of November 16. However, a constitutional complaint can be filed in Karlsruhe against any legally binding court decision. The expected decision concerns the best-known and largest of several pending proceedings – and there only the urgent application.
Does the decision affect voting behavior?
This is not clear from the brief announcement by the Second Senate. However, a letter from the presiding judge was announced shortly beforehand, in which all MPs are given the opportunity to comment on the main application by March 2nd. This can only be interpreted in such a way that this is still being checked.
With the urgent application, the more than 40 plaintiffs want to ensure that the election cannot take place until a final decision has been made. The judges carry out a so-called weighing of consequences in an urgent procedure. They consider what would have the worse consequences: if they grant the urgent application now and the constitutional complaint later remains unsuccessful – or if they let things run their course and the constitutional complaint later turns out to be justified.
State returning officer Stephan Bröchler told “Zeit Online” on Monday that both options were difficult. If the election were to take place, those entitled to vote would not know whether their vote counted at all and might stay at home. Even a shift is not ideal. “What would we do with the votes already cast?”
Long queues and voting only after 6 p.m
Because the documents for the postal vote have long since been sent. Since this is a repeat election and not a new election, the parties must run with the same candidates as in 2021. The legislative period ends in 2026. The election of the twelve district councils must also be repeated.
September 26, 2021 was a super election day in the capital: with the elections to the House of Representatives and the local parliaments, the federal election and a referendum took place. The Berlin marathon was also running at the same time.
The result was sometimes chaotic conditions in the polling stations. Because far too little time had been allowed for when planning the individual votes, long queues formed. Some polling stations had to close temporarily because the ballot papers ran out. In many places, those waiting were allowed to cast their votes until well after 6 p.m. – while the first forecasts had long been published. According to the Constitutional Court, at least 20,000 to 30,000 votes were affected by voting errors.
Bundestag election is only partially repeated
The Karlsruhe decision has nothing to do with the Berlin federal elections, which also caused problems. Here the election test is regulated differently. The Bundestag responsible for this had decided on November 10 with the votes of the traffic light parliamentary groups SPD, Greens and FDP that the election in Berlin will only be partially repeated – namely in places where there have been proven incidents.
The Federal Constitutional Court deals with this in a separate procedure as a formal complaints authority. The parliamentary groups of the CDU/CSU and AfD, who are striving for a more extensive or complete repetition, have lodged election scrutiny complaints. A date for the repeat election will only be determined here once the review in Karlsruhe has been completed.
Source: Stern
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