Some 550,000 voters Berlin They were called to the polls this Sunday to vote for the third time in the elections held in September 2021, which again turned into nonsense. The administrative chaos that ensued 455 of the total 2,256 districts in the capital– It led the court to annul its results. On a day when three elections (general, regional and various popular consultations) were held in one, there were endless queues, absentee ballot papers or incomplete lists. marathon crossing the city and complicating the mobility of citizens. For many Germans, Berlin reaffirmed its reputation as an incorrigibly anarchic capital.
In the replays, signs of inefficiency on the part of officials and frustrating slowness when making decisions. Two and a half years have passed since the elections that ousted the Conservatives from power Angela Merkel. A year later, the regionals were repeated in full, but what happened to the generals remained in abeyance. The judge ruled on the new iteration, albeit partial, affecting one in five voters.
Thus, it turned out that some street residents were called to the polls, but their neighbors across the street were not. Someone who had recently moved to one of the affected areas was “invited” to repeat the vote they did not actually cast.
Some of those who were not invited wondered why they were not given a second chance, now that they knew what the coalition between the two parties was. social democrat Olaf Scholz and its green and liberal partners. Those who said yes did not fully understand why they were being asked to vote, given that no change in the correlation of powers in the Bundestag was expected. The previous iteration ousted social democrat Franziska Giffey from the mayoralty in favor of conservative Kai Wegner. However, half a million Berliners will not be able to change the distribution of the parliamentary cake in a country with a population of 84 million.
One final bullshit factor: Since this is a repeat, the parties will be running with the same lists as in 2021. It won’t even be the first test for La Izquierda’s leadership split at the ballot box. Sahra Wagenknecht. And in the list on the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD)) MP Birgit Malsack-Winkemann appears to still be in provisional prison for participating in a coup plot, accused of terrorism.