Part repeated

SPD wins federal election in Berlin

The SPD has won the partial repeat of the German federal election in Berlin with 22.2 percent of the vote. They were closely followed by the Greens (22%), with the CDU in third place (17.2%). The results were published on Monday night (see video above).

The Left Party landed on 11.5 percent, while the AfD climbed to 9.4 percent, overtaking the FDP, which dropped to 8.1 percent. As only twelve constituencies were affected, this has no impact on the majority in the Bundestag. However, the parliament will be one seat smaller, which was previously held by the FDP. This means that there will be 735 MPs in the Bundestag in future, as the Federal Returning Officer announced last night.

Mayor: call for a change of course
The order of the parties in the 2021 Bundestag elections has not changed. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner interpreted the result as a call to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to change course. He should break his silence on "how he wants to get this country back on track."

The rerun was ordered by the German Constitutional Court because there had been chaotic conditions at polling stations in the capital. There were too few ballot boxes in some places and ballot papers were missing. In 2021, voter turnout was 57%, this time it was only 40.2% of those eligible to vote. Three years ago, however, elections were also held for the Berlin House of Representatives and the district assemblies.

No new candidates allowed
The partial re-run had some special features. For example, the parties were not allowed to put forward any new candidates and the ballot paper had to look the same as in 2021. This meant, for example, that former AfD member of the Bundestag Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, who is currently in custody on suspicion of being a member of a right-wing terrorist organization, ran again.