Partial repeat of the federal election – SPD, Greens and FDP with slight losses, gains for CDU and AfD
dpa-Bildfunk/Sebastian Gollnow
Video: rbb24 Brandenburg current | 11.02.2024 | Ismahan Alboga | Image: dpa-Bildfunk/Sebastian Gollnow
The 2021 federal election was repeated on Sunday in a fifth of Berlin’s electoral districts. The CDU and AfD recorded slight gains, while the traffic light parties lost. There was no change in the twelve direct mandates.
- Repeat election in a fifth of Berlin’s electoral districts
- defended all twelve direct mandates
- Voter turnout lower than 2021
- Around 550,000 people were able to vote again
In the partial repeat of the 2021 federal election in Berlin, the parties in the traffic light government – SPD, Greens and FDP – recorded slight losses. The CDU and AfD have gained slightly compared to the election two and a half years ago. The information is based on the valid results of 2021 and the results of the partial repeat on Sunday.
The CDU (+1.3) and AfD (+1.0) each gained around one percentage point and thus somewhat offset their losses compared to the 2017 federal election in Berlin. The SPD, Greens and FDP, on the other hand, recorded slight losses, the Greens of 0.3, the FDP of 0.9 and the SPD of 1.2 percentage points. This means that overall they have lost some of their profits compared to 2017, and the FDP even slipped into the red. The left remains roughly stable and gains 0.1 percentage points compared to 2021.
When it comes to the order of parties in the 2021 federal election, the AfD is overtaking the FDP. At the first attempt at the election in Berlin, the SPD was in the lead almost two and a half years ago (2021: 23.4, now: 22.3 percent of the second votes), followed by the Greens (2021: 22.4; now: 22.0), CDU (2021: 15.9, now: 17.2), Left (2021: 11.4, now: 11.5), FDP (2021: 9.1, now: 8.2) and AfD (2021: 8, 4, now: 9.4).
All direct mandates remain
There were no shifts in the direct mandates. The 2021 winners also maintained their lead in the four most competitive constituencies.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert (SPD) will continue to represent Tempelhof-Schöneberg directly in the Bundestag. Almost two and a half years after the actual election, it is clear that he won constituency 81 with 26.7 percent [wahlen-berlin.de]. He originally received 27.1 percent of the vote.
The former governing mayor Michael Müller (also SPD) also retains his direct mandate. He has now finally been confirmed as the direct candidate for Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and has achieved 25.6 percent after all votes have been counted. This meant that his final result in the 2021 federal election was revised downwards by 2.3 percentage points.
In Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Tempelhof-Schöneberg, a change in the direct mandate was possible due to tight voting conditions and a high error rate in the actual election.
Pankow and Reinickendorf were also among the electoral districts in which a change of direct mandate was possible.
In Pankow, the green constituency winner in 2021, Stefan Gelbhaar, defended his seat in parliament, and in Reinickendorf, the former Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU). Just like Müller and Kühnert, they would still have been protected by their party’s state lists in the event of a defeat.
Low voter turnout
Unlike a regular federal election, no forecast of the voting results was published after the polling stations closed at 6 p.m. Projections will also not be issued during the evening.
Votes had to be held again in around a fifth of Berlin’s electoral districts. The voter turnout was comparatively low. By 4 p.m., only 40.2 percent of those eligible to vote on Sunday went to the polls. In the election in September 2021, 57 percent of those eligible to vote in the repeat voting area at the same time.
Together with the valid results of the 2021 election, this results in an official voter turnout of 54.1 percent (previously officially 57.9 percent).
Minor breakdowns in Pankow and Kreuzberg
“From an organizational point of view, the election went well,” said state returning officer Stephan Bröchler to rbb24 Abendschau. “There have been minor mistakes that have occurred, but that is entirely within the scope of conducting elections.” Bröchler explained the low voter turnout with the manageable effects. “Apparently it wasn’t that attractive because the political majority in the Bundestag hasn’t changed.”
At midday, Bröchler confirmed rbb information that there was a smaller one Breakdown in Berlin-Pankow. The election workers initially couldn’t get hold of the voting documents because a key was missing. Voters were only able to cast their votes here about 40 minutes late.
At another polling station in Pankow, an electoral officer was replaced by his deputy because he was “uncooperative,” the DPA reported. There were no delays there.
In Kreuzberg, according to Bröchler, an electoral board was delayed due to an accident with a taxi, so that the polling station in question also started late. “This can happen with the best organization,” said the state returning officer.
No forecasts or projections
Even if the Berlin repeat election will probably only change the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag, observers believe it could be a test of sentiment for current federal politics.
The polling stations were open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be no forecasts or projections: the polling stations will transmit the results of their counting to the state returning officer during the evening. The preliminary result is not expected before midnight.