By Gunnar Schupelius
The sloppiness was much greater than expected. New details keep coming to light. But if people can no longer have confidence in the elections, then they lose confidence in democracy as a whole. This erosion has already started, says Gunnar Schupelius.
The mistakes made in the September 26 elections in Berlin are more serious than expected. New details keep coming to light. It’s no longer just about isolated cases.
On Tuesday, Federal Returning Officer Georg Thiel spoke of a systemic failure of the election organization that had never existed in the Federal Republic.
The elections would have to be repeated in at least six of the 12 Berlin constituencies, he demanded. After all, it is “about the federal capital of a civilized country”.
Will the Bundestag elections be repeated in Berlin? The Bundestag must now decide on this. Elections to the House of Representatives took place at the same time. The Berlin Constitutional Court, which does not want to hear until the end of September, will decide whether they have to be repeated. Before that, the judges check the voting documents from all 2,257 polling stations.
It’s not that easy, because there are 40,000 documents. Not a single page was scanned. This was pointed out by former FDP MP Marcel Luthe, who, along with many other plaintiffs, lodged an objection to the elections. A team from the political magazine “TE” (“Tichy’s Insight”) then digitized the election documents in order to make them accessible to the public.
These documents make the extent of the electoral sloppiness visible. In Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, for example, every second protocol is incorrect. Two-thirds of the polling stations closed late, which is not allowed because forecasts are announced after 6 p.m.
In Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, the election protocols were thrown loosely into cardboard boxes, many of which lacked the results or the signature, numbers were crossed out and columns swapped. There were more voters than eligible voters and false ballots were issued for the second vote. In addition, invalid votes were declared valid again three days after the election by the district returning officer, which benefited the Greens, SPD and Left in particular.
The whole of Germany is now laughing at “those in Berlin” who couldn’t build their airport. The elections are the new BER. But it’s no longer funny, it’s about much more than sunk money.
It is at the core of democracy, the universal, equal and secret elections, which must be held very correctly in order to give Parliament its legitimacy.
But if people can no longer have confidence in these elections and also not in those who have to guarantee the error-free procedure, then they lose confidence in democracy as a whole. And that’s why the election sloppiness of September 26th is anything but funny.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]
