© dpa
Due to the early Bundestag elections, some Berliners will have to adjust to restrictions in administrative services.
5 of 43 citizens' offices will close from January until the election date on 23 February. This applies to the location in Frankfurter Allee (Friedrichshain), the Halemweg office (Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf), the Helle Mitte citizens' office (Marzahn-Hellersdorf), the Reinickendorf-Ost citizens' office and the Wasserstadt citizens' office (Spandau).
The reason for this is that the employees are needed for the election preparations. Depending on the workload for employees on election Sunday, closures on the following day are also to be expected, explained the Senate Chancellery. According to the information provided, appointments that have already been booked will remain open. However, it is possible that they will be offered at another location. Citizens who are affected by this will be informed accordingly, the Senate Chancellery assures.
Planning for the organisation of the election has not yet been completed in the districts. "Restrictions must be expected, particularly during the anticipated shortened postal voting period immediately before election day." According to the Senate Chancellery, it is conceivable that employees from the housing or registry offices will also be deployed on a selective basis for election preparation tasks. In this case, restrictions on services in the relevant district offices are to be expected. In future, there will be permanent electoral offices in all districts, each with three permanent posts. So far, however, recruitment has been slow.