Election preparations on schedule: election officer thanks poll workers

State election officer Stephan Bröchler

Just under two weeks before the partial repeat of the Bundestag election in Berlin, preparations are in the home straight according to state election officer Stephan Bröchler.

"We are on schedule," Bröchler said on Monday on the sidelines of a training session for poll workers in Dahlem. All polling stations and postal voting centers were ready, and the approximately 9,000 poll workers were being trained - if they wanted to be. In addition, 800,000 ballot papers had been prepared - with around 550,000 eligible voters, there was a considerable reserve in case there were any problems.

Bröchler praises poll workers' commitment

Bröchler took part in a training session for poll workers organized by the Steglitz-Zehlendorf electoral office and praised the commitment of the volunteers. "You are very, very important for conducting an orderly election," he said to the 80 or so participants. "You are the guarantors for us that the election works properly." Such voluntary work for society is not a matter of course.

Around 550,000 Berliners eligible to vote

Following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court last December, the 2021 Bundestag election in the capital, which was overshadowed by glitches, will have to be repeated in 455 of Berlin's 2256 constituencies and the associated postal voting districts. Around 550,000 Berliners will be called to vote again on February 11 - around a fifth of all regular voters in the capital. A change in the Bundestag majority is not expected. However, minor shifts are possible.

Hope for high voter turnout

Bröchler once again emphasized that the highest possible voter turnout is important, not least to ensure that the number of MPs from Berlin in the Bundestag does not fall. He is hoping for many postal voters. According to him, 23.6 percent of eligible voters have requested postal voting documents so far, compared to 28.1 percent at the same time before the 2021 election. Bröchler advised people to apply for postal voting documents by this Thursday (February 1) if possible or to use the option of postal voting directly at the district electoral offices due to possible longer postal routes. Anyone who applied for documents some time ago but has not yet received them should also contact their district electoral office, said Bröchler.