Election rerun starts with first postal votes

Berlin's state election supervisor Stephan Bröchler sees a "battle for voter turnout" in the upcoming partial repeat of the Bundestag elections.

Bröchler is hoping for a 60 percent voter turnout among citizens, he said on Tuesday at a postal voting center in Reinickendorf. Around 550,000 Berliners have received their polling cards in the past few weeks, and postal voting documents for the partial rerun have been sent out since Monday. Bröchler advised Berliners to vote by mail and stated that he would do the same.

Districts prepared for repeat election

The election has to be repeated in 455 of Berlin's 2256 constituencies. Special precautions have been taken to avoid past mistakes. Communication between the state election administration and the districts has improved, said Bröchler. "From the pen to the garbage bag", the Berlin district of Reinickendorf, for example, was prepared for the repeat elections, said the deputy district electoral officer there, Hauke Haverkamp. "We have prepared so much that we are now completely relaxed." There is also no shortage of election workers - not all applicants could have been accepted for the training courses. The district has bought 250 suitcases especially for the new elections, which are already full to the brim with election documents and are lined up in the citizens' office. Ballpoint pens, adhesive tape and bin bags are stored in them. A lot of materials have been ordered so that there are no shortages. Even in the event of water or other damage, everything should work out for this election.