1,500 more polling station staff wanted for the September election

Election officials are counting ballot papers for the Bundestag election at a polling station. (File photo)

There are only a few election volunteers still needed for the Berlin House of Representatives election on September 20.

A total of around 38,500 polling staff on duty

1,500 election officials are still needed, said Senator for the Interior Iris Spranger (SPD) in the House of Representatives’ Committee on Internal Affairs. A further public appeal is being launched to help the twelve boroughs with their search. This would bring the total number of election officials to 38,500. The search for polling station staff in Berlin has only really picked up since they began receiving between 100 and 120 euros for this work, which used to be purely voluntary, on polling day. In addition, polling station staff now receive 40 euros for attending a training session and 25 euros for taking part in an online training course. Previously, turnout figures had been too low.

A ballot paper for the first and second votes

There are 2,542 polling stations with ballot boxes and 1,572 postal voting centres. There is now just one ballot paper for the first and second votes, rather than the two separate ones used previously. The election is costing many millions of euros. Spranger said that 1.3 million euros had been earmarked for printing polling cards and ballot papers, 3.5 million euros for postage, and 2.8 million for other material expenses and services. This apparently does not include the costs for election officials, which are likely to amount to more than 5 million euros.