Election appeals: already 800 appeals against the Bundestag election

A few days before the deadline, around 800 appeals against the validity of the election of February 23 were received by the Bundestag. That is significantly less than after the Bundestag election 2021, but significantly more than after the 2017 election. At that time there were 275 election appeals. In 2021, the number then skyrocketed to 2,198 – however, 1,713 of which alone referred to the Wahlchaos in the State of Berlin.

The deadline for submitting objections to the latest Bundestag election will take place next Wednesday (April 23).

Bundestag decides on election contestations

According to the election examination law, each person entitled to vote, each group of voters and any state election manager, the federal election manager and the president of the Bundestag can appeal. This must be done in writing and on the grounds within two months of the Bundestag election. The election examination board of the Bundestag advises on the objections.

The decision then makes the parliament. A complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court can be filed against this decision.

An objection can only be successful if an error in preparation or implementation of the Bundestag election was found. In addition, this error must have influenced or at least influence the distribution of seats in the Bundestag. Experts speak of relevance to mandate.

Many objections for choice of Germans abroad

According to the Bundestag administration, around 430, i.e. more than half of all current appeals, concern the opportunities to participate in the election of Germans living abroad. Because of the shortened postal selection periods, this point had played a major role before the election. From the beginning, there was fear that the ballot papers of many of the Germans living abroad would not be received by the election offices in time.

The organization “More Democracy” started a campaign. In particular, it sees the principle of the general public’s choice and offers downloadable forms for election objections on its website, which are then to be introduced to the Bundestag. The reason for the campaign: “For around 3.5 million Germans abroad, participation in the last Bundestag election was associated with considerable hurdles – even in fact impossible for many.” And: “That shouldn’t be repeated.”

BSW hopes for a new counting of the votes

The alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) has also announced an election contest. The spin -off from the left wants to achieve a new count. The BSW came to 4.98 percent of the vote. According to his own statements, he lacked around 9,000 votes for moving into the Bundestag. It is assumed that these would come together with precise new counts and that the young party can still move into the Bundestag.

With an urgent request from the Federal Constitutional Court before the end of the end result, the BSW shipwreck had suffered. The Karlsruhe judges pointed the party to the applicable election examination procedure, which initially provides for the Bundestag as an addressee for objections.

It will now be crucial whether the Parliament’s election examination board can recognize errors when performing the election. There would then be no doubt that they were relevant to the mandate. Because with a jump from the BSW about the five percent hurdle, the composition of the Bundestag would be different. Probably the desired black and red coalition would not have a majority.

Objections are almost always unsuccessful

Most of the election contestions are unsuccessful. Sometimes the justified reasons can be expected. The Bundestag election 2021 was challenged, among other things, because of the alleged influence by satellite radar or because of the supposedly party campaign reporting by public service broadcasting.

The choice in 2021 was also a rare example of successful objections. In Berlin, the mistakes in the preparation and implementation of the election were so serious that according to a judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court, they had to be repeated in 455 of more than 2,000 electoral districts. The election errors such as the late opening of polling stations, the interruption of the election due to a lack of ballot papers, the issue of false ballot papers or long waiting times in the vote were largely relevant to the mandate, were the Karlsruhe judges.