Only with a mask to the polling station

by time news

BerlinSince the beginning of 2010, Berlin’s election supervisor Petra Michaelis has been in office. She has already prepared a number of elections since then, but from her point of view it has never been as problematic as next Sunday. The corona pandemic alone brings with it several problems and makes Sunday a “super election day”, as she calls it – with a lot of challenges.

When the Bundestag, House of Representatives and District Councils’ assemblies are elected on Sunday and the referendum on expropriation is voted on, it is mandatory to wear a mask in the polling station. This may be common practice in shops or on buses and trains, but it is new for Berlin elections. But what happens if someone does not stick to their duty?

According to Petra Michaelis, the electoral board must point out the mask requirement and, in case of doubt, make use of the house rules and expel the person. Should a conflict arise, Michaelis referred on Wednesday at a press conference in the Red City Hall to “working with the police”. The telephone number of the respective police section is available in every polling station.

The Berlin police themselves first look in the direction of the State Criminal Police Office. This evaluates the security situation, and the measures are based on this. Currently, a few days before the ballot, the police are assuming a routine operation. This means that although more workers will be deployed than any Sunday, there have been no indications of any particular risk situations so far. If nothing changes by Sunday, police officers will occasionally drive past polling stations in their area of ​​operation as part of their space protection program.

The Berlin Marathon also makes going to the polling station arduous

For state returning officer Michaelis, the mask requirement is not the only challenge with a corona background. For example, in a polling station with two booths, only four eligible voters are allowed to be present at the same time. “It will take longer,” says Michaelis and asks that you familiarize yourself with the ballot paper beforehand and make a decision. This is possible on the Internet at www.berlin.de/wahlen, and forms should also be displayed in the voting rooms. Also important: everyone who is eligible to vote should bring a pen.

Michaelis also considers the record number of postal votes to be pandemic-related. But the inconvenience caused by the marathon taking place at the same time keep many from going to the polling station. In any case, her authority had already sent 954,863 ballot papers for postal voting by Tuesday. By the deadline on Friday, the million mark should be exceeded.

Again and again mishaps with the postal vote

Michaelis speaks of a “mass business”. And this has already led to errors. Wrong ballot papers were often sent out.

That may sound absurd at first glance, but the regulations are anything but trivial. The number of people entitled to vote varies. Around 2,469,000 people are eligible to vote for the federal elections, and only 2,448,000 for the House of Representatives elections – there are no Germans abroad and new Berliners (registration after June 26 this year). Most of the eligible people are in the BVV elections (2,738,000), because 16- and 17-year-old Germans and EU members are also allowed to participate. So there are always enough sources of error for incorrectly packed ballot letters.

Either way, the final results won’t be known until Monday. Michaelis has again invited to the press conference at 11 a.m. – as has been the case after every election since 2010.

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