Germany's Federal Constitutional Court said there had been counting errors in several constituencies, ruling that a rerun is necessary in 455 electoral districts.
The 2021 federal election must be partially repeated in Berlin, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday.
The court said that there had been multiple errors in the vote count in several Berlin constituencies.
The election must be repeated in 455 electoral districts and the corresponding postal voting districts, presiding Judge Doris Köng said.
Chaotic vote
The election in Berlin was marked by long queues and missing paper ballots.
The vote, which took place on September 26, 2021, was for the state election, the city's 12 district assemblies, the German national election and a local referendum.
A loophole allowed ineligible minors to vote in state and federal elections by using a mail-in ballot ordered by someone 18 or over, and mail-in ballots for different elections had to be put in a single envelope.
Berlin authorities scrambled to correct mistakes a few days before polling day by warning local stations to change their procedures to prevent fraud during counting. But another loophole — allowing German nationals living outside Germany to vote in local elections using the same trick — was not closed in time.
The Berlin Marathon was also held on the same day, making it more difficult for replacement ballots to be delivered in some constituencies.
State election also repeated
The state's Constitutional Court had annulled the state and municipal elections.
A rerun of the 2021 municipal election was carried out early in 2023. The conservative CDU took the largest share of the vote and successfully ousted the previous mayor, who belonged to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
Source: Dw
Comments