German court decides whether chaotic elections should be moved to Berlin | outside

On September 26, 2021, not only were the national elections, but people in Berlin could also vote for the state parliament. On top of that, that day was also the Berlin Marathon, which meant many roads were closed. A state of chaos prevailed in some polling stations due to the inability to deliver ballot papers. Long queues formed and people had to wait until after the official closing time of the polling stations.

In November 2022, the court had already decided to postpone the state elections, so Berliners went to the polls again in February. This led to a changing of the guard in Berlin, and the Social Democrats lost their majority to the Christian Democrats.

If the Bundestag elections also have to be repeated, it could be bad news for the government of Olaf Scholz. Coalition parties perform poorly in opinion polls and therefore could lose seats. The leftist party must also fear new elections. This party has just missed the 5 percent electoral threshold in the 2021 elections, and is in parliament only through an exit from the German electoral system. Because three parliamentarians were directly elected in their regions, the party is still allowed to sit in parliament. If one of them loses his direct seat, the entire faction will disappear, which has also recently split and is thus at risk of disappearing in the next election.