A Little Voting Story

 It's not a front-page story (yet) in Germany, but in the next couple of weeks....things are to solidify, and the 2021 federal election that was held in Berlin....will BE repeated...likely taking place on 11 Feb 2024.  

Final details?  Well....still be written and it's not completely clear.  

What this goes to?  The German Constitutional Court will decide and announce on the 19th of December....how this will be finalized.  Most people say that on  the 19th....they will give a 60-day window for Berlin city authorities to prepare for the repeat.

So, you probably will ask....just how fu*ked-up this September 2021 election got in the city of Berlin, and I'll give you the basic story.

In the early part of 2021, with the Covid vaccine business all hyped-up on priorities....the city bosses said if you were a volunteer for the election business (9 months away)....you got top priority.  So a bunch of folks were in some fear mode, and decided that they would volunteer.  But as the vax stuff was accomplished, and the weeks passed....this crowd wasn't that interested in being volunteers.

So as you got up to August and all this training and preparation was to occur....the volunteer crowd...lessened, and went into non-volunteer status.  

City authorities grasping this?  I get the impression that as each week passed, they were just thinking.....'what-the-hell' and just kept preceding forward.  

Then we come to this odd problem that no one much thought much about.....the nation-wide vote was to be on a Sunday.....that happened to have a Berlin city-wide marathon situation going on.  So that complicated matters another notch.

Not enough ballots at various stations?  Yes....poor planning.

Folks came up and sued over the crappy election business.  

The chief question you might be asking?  Will this 'new' election change things in the Bundestag?  Well....it could influence a few things.

1.8-million voters showed up in September 2021.  Will the same number show up for the 'new' election?  I'd have my doubts.  It wouldn't shock me if the voter turn-out....went from 75-percent showing.....down to 55-percent showing.

Chief winner in 2021?  Mostly the SPD and CDU parties....Greens to some degree.  The Linke an AfD parties marginally had showings.  

At this point in 2024?  Polling kinda says that the CDU ought to take one-quarter of all votes, with the AfD near 15-percent.  Both the Greens and SPD will be in the 17-percent range.  

So I might go and suggest that when you add up the Bundestag numbers....the CDU bumps up a few more members, and the Greens/SPD bump down a few numbers.

If you were to ask if something like this 'new' election has ever been demanded by the court system?  It is just awful rare and unusual.  

Amusing?  No, I wouldn't go and suggest that, but you can stand and admire how Covid vaccinations fitted into the running of the election, and how people un-volunteered from ballot station participation.