The Constitutional Court of Berlin has affirmed on Wednesday that the elections to the Chamber of Deputies in the city of Berlin held in September 2021 alongside the general elections must be repeated within a maximum of 90 days due to numerous flaws in the process.
Following the verdict, the city’s new election commissioner, Stephan Brochler, has indicated that the most likely date is February 12, German news agency DPA reported. His predecessor resigned after the electoral chaos experienced in the German capital last autumn.
On September 26, 2021, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, elections were held in Berlin in which representatives for the Lower House and twelve city districts were elected. In addition, there was a referendum on the expropriation of large real estate companies.
The result of this confluence of factors and poor preparation was massive problems such as incorrect or non-existent ballots, a shortage of ballot boxes, temporary closure of polling stations and long queues in front of them, which led to the Bundestag stating last week that 431 constituencies in Berlin will have to repeat the elections to the chamber.
However, it is not known when the re-run of the elections will take place, as it is very likely that the decision will be challenged before the German Constitutional Court.
