Dhe voters in Berlin finally have certainty about what to think of the elections to the House of Representatives and the district assemblies on September 26, 2021. As was to be expected, they must be repeated. More than a year after the election, the state constitutional court has thus drawn the conclusion from the widespread irregular conditions that had made the election day a unique election farce. In doing so, he has carved himself into the memory of a kind of memorial day for the political and administrative misery of the capital. The court ruled in favor of the voters over the politicians.
For Berlin politics, this decision could amount to a new beginning, even if the re-election is not a new election (the electoral period does not start from the beginning). The majorities are not clear, the SPD and the Greens are close together, and the Greens could push ahead of the SPD on election day. That would mean that Franziska Giffey could lose her position as governing mayor again after a short time. The CDU is also hoping for new perspectives. This could even affect the coalition.
That was the reason why the Senate majority was and is not enthusiastic about a complete repetition in all constituencies, and not only from the perspective of the city of Berlin.
In the federal government, too, party-political considerations have clouded the view of voting rights. Because a number of mandates are at stake, which could affect the distribution of seats in the Bundestag. In the federal government there is also more than in Berlin: The wind has turned to the detriment of the traffic light parties, the repetition could become a reminder choice.
Another calculation in the Bundestag
However, to take this into account would be a violation of the constitution in several respects. Power over fundamental rights. The Election Review Committee of the Bundestag therefore withdrew to the legal position that elections should only be held again in those constituencies in which it can be proven beyond a doubt that obstructions and irregular procedures had occurred. The “damage” for the parties would remain manageable. The majority in the Bundestag shared this view. For the time being, it remains the case for the Bundestag election that the election is only to be repeated in 431 districts (out of 2257).
But how does that fit with the judgment of the Berlin Constitutional Court? The court did not agree with the calculation of the Bundestag. Only one person can be right: Either the chaos was so great and the proven errors were only the tip of the iceberg, so that re-elections have to be carried out everywhere, or re-elections are only possible and necessary where evidence has been documented.
Both the Berlin verdict and the decision of the Bundestag will probably end up before the Federal Constitutional Court – the Berlin decision goes too far for some, the decision of the Bundestag not far enough for the other. The date for the repeated election to the House of Representatives, probably February 12, is therefore subject to the proviso that Karlsruhe could decide differently than the Berlin Constitutional Court.
If Karlsruhe judges differently, that would be confirmation for the Bundestag, but a vote against the Berlin judgment. Or it happens the other way around: the Berlin court would then be right, but the Bundestag may be wrong. The Berlin election chaos is not over yet.
