© dpa
Berlin's State Returning Officer Stephan Bröchler will have more authority in future. The House of Representatives passed amendments to the state election law that will significantly strengthen the position of the state returning officer.
In future, it will have more rights of intervention in the districts in the preparation and conduct of elections, among other things. He can even issue directives to the district returning officers in order to ensure close cooperation between the state and districts, uniform standards and smooth processes.
He has the authority to issue instructions to the State Electoral Office. The law expressly stipulates that he himself is independent, acts without instructions and performs his duties on his own responsibility. It also stipulates that he has the right to report to the Governing Mayor and to submit regular reports to the Senate. The state administration is obliged by law to support the state returning officer in the performance of his duties.
With the amendment to the law, the reforms to the electoral organization in Berlin introduced after the 2021 election are now practically complete. They were based on proposals from a commission of experts. Administrative scientist Bröchler himself was a member of this committee before he took over the office of state returning officer in October 2022. As part of the reforms, processes for preparing and holding elections were changed and the equipment at polling stations was improved, among other things. A state returning office was created. Permanent positions were created in the district returning offices to ensure their long-term operation.
Bröchler called the new state election law an important step. "Berlin is getting a modern electoral law that strengthens both the state and district returning officers," he told the German Press Agency. It forms the legal basis for closer cooperation between the state and district levels. The final step would now be to amend the state electoral regulations.