On February 12, 2023, the parliamentary elections will be repeated in Berlin. The Federal Constitutional Court declared the original election of September 26, 2022 invalid. The re-election is said to cost taxpayers 40 million euros. All information about redialing in the Newsticker.
12.20 p.m .: From the point of view of the Berlin FDP parliamentary group leader Sebastian Czaja, a new Senate must take care of the administration as quickly as possible. “The most pressing and urgent thing is administrative modernization. Everyone is talking about it, but nothing happens,” Czaja told the Berliner Zeitung (Monday). The basic problem is always the question of political party books and responsibilities.
“If, for example, a district councilor has a different party book than the respective senator, then it usually means that things are slowed down rather than decided,” criticized Czaja. “And that’s why we proposed to abolish the 60 temporary electoral officers, namely the district councillors.” Instead, a senator with a Senate branch office in the districts should do politics. “This eliminates the double responsibilities, and in future we will no longer need four contact points to clean a Berlin school toilet.”
“This re-election alone is now costing us taxpayers 40 million euros,” said the FDP politician. “Simply because in recent years we have not mustered up the collective courage to initiate a comprehensive administrative reform.”
Tuesday, January 17, 8:45 a.m.: The Berlin state returning officer Stephan Bröchler welcomed a possible observation of the repeat election on February 12 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “I see it very positively,” said Bröchler on Friday on RBB Inforadio. In this way, one can not only show the people of Berlin, but also everyone else, “that Berlin can hold elections”. That is a great opportunity. “And it also puts us under pressure to act particularly well.” That’s why he wants that.
OSCE officials were in Berlin earlier this week to assess the need for election observation. Your report on this should be available in the middle of next week. Berlin had invited the OSCE to observe the elections. Bröchler wants to win back trust in democracy.
The state returning officer does not expect that the constitutional complaint against the decision of the state constitutional court for a complete re-election will be successful and that the election will have to be postponed. The election has already started with the postal vote and he assumes that the judges in Karlsruhe will accept the decision of the state constitutional court, said Bröchler.
A constitutional complaint was filed with the Federal Constitutional Court in mid-December by 43 plaintiffs from Berlin, who are contesting the judgment of the Berlin Constitutional Court. Among them are eight members of the House of Representatives. A total of five complaints were received by the Federal Constitutional Court. According to a ruling by the Berlin Constitutional Court, the elections for the House of Representatives and the district assemblies in September 2021 must be repeated due to numerous mishaps.
Surf tips:
On February 12, eligible voters in Berlin can vote. You need certain documents for the polling station. We explain what you need to bring with you to the election.
Elections to the House of Representatives are held in Berlin in February. Would you like to know how you can apply for postal voting and how exactly it works? All information on postal voting can be found online at FOCUS.
