The future Munich OB will be determined in a runoff election. In Corona times, this poses special challenges for applicants Dieter Reiter and Kristina Frank.
- In the 2020 local elections on March 15, none of the Munich OB candidates achieved an absolute majority.
- Therefore, a runoff election is scheduled for March 29 between incumbent Dieter Reiter and challenger Kristina Frank .
- The rampant corona virus * complicates the entire procedure.
Munich - It is a novelty in the history of elections - and of course it is due to the Corona crisis . For the runoff election on March 29th between the acting city councilor Dieter Reiter (SPD) and Kristina Frank (CSU) , voting is only possible by postal vote. The polling stations remain closed on this day. That means: The district administration department (KVR) now has its hands full to send the documents for the more than 1.1 million voters.
According to government spokesman Johannes Mayer, the KVR is working flat out. But they were also prepared for the fact that there would be a runoff election. Those who have made their cross send the documents back to the electoral office . As in the first ballot, there is also the option of throwing your ballot paper in special mailboxes that are specifically designed for this purpose . These are located at the district administration department (Ruppertstrasse 11 and 19), at the town hall at Fischbrunnen as well as at the district inspections East (Trausnitzstrasse 33), North (Hanauer Strasse 56) and West (Landsberger Strasse 486).
In the first ballot on Sunday evening, Dieter Reiter narrowly missed the absolute majority with 47.9 percent of the vote. Kristina Frank landed with 21.3 percent just before Katrin Habenschaden from the Greens (20.7 percent). In 2014 there was a runoff election between rider and CSU candidate Josef Schmid. He had reached 36.6 percent in the first ballot, Reiter 40.5 percent. In the runoff election, the social democrat prevailed with 56.7 percent of the vote. It is only the third runoff election in Munich after the Second World War . Except in 2014, this was still the case in 1984.
Munich will not be alone in 2020. There will also be a runoff election in other Bavarian cities. You can find more information about the cities of Nuremberg *, Augsburg *, Regensburg * and Ingolstadt * here.
Local election 2020 in Munich: restricted election campaign before the runoff election
OB Dieter Reiter sees his main task in getting the people of Munich through the Corona crisis well over the next few weeks. “When it comes to runoff voting, I see the biggest challenge in motivating voters to vote again, ” said the head of our newspaper. It is positive that it will be a postal vote for everyone . Since the effort is comparatively manageable.
He sees the fact that the election campaign is only possible to a limited extent . “I don't have many options because I am constantly on the move and in agreement because of Corona . If I contact Munich, it will be about Corona. ”In addition, there is a clear distinction between him and his opponent Kristina Frank. "The debates are conducted, the different priorities are clear."
Frank goes “combative” in the runoff vote for the OB election in Munich
Kristina Frank is also still under the impression of an "exciting evening that you rarely experience" on Monday. In general, the past one and a half years have been exhausting since she was nominated for an OB . "But I'm a fighter."
There is no comment from the CSU on Monday as to whether one will go aggressively towards the Greens to campaign for an election recommendation. "We now want to wait for the final result of the city council, " explains OB Dieter Reiter's challenger, Kristina Frank. Otherwise, she was glad that the CSU had "done its homework" in the past election campaign.
Local election 2020 in Munich was "a roller coaster of emotions" for damage to property
On Sunday evening she experienced “a roller coaster of emotions with an unpleasant ending” - the Green OB candidate Katrin Habenschaden. Until 7:50 p.m. she was just ahead of Kristina Frank (CSU), after which Frank took the lead and entered the runoff. Whether the Greens make an election recommendation as in 2014 (at that time top candidate Sabine Nallinger had declared for Dieter Reiter)? No comment. For now. Clearly: The Greens are foreseeably the strongest faction in the city council, every election recommendation weakens the negotiating position when it comes to building a new city government. And also: Despite the green election recommendation of 2014 - in the end Reiter ruled with the CSU because it was not enough with the Greens.
Before the runoff in Munich there is no help from the little ones
Is there an election recommendation from other parties - does someone speak out for Reiter or Frank? FDP OB candidate Jörg Hoffmann rules that out. "We'll discuss that again. But we have never done this before, so I assume that it will stay that way. ”
ÖDP top candidate Tobias Ruff sees things similarly. "We are neutral, our voters should decide for themselves who they speak for." FW OB candidate Hans-Peter Mehling told our newspaper: "We are determined to give citizens the chance to choose between two candidates make decisions without giving them any tips. ”Incidentally, all parties agree.
The AfD is more categorical, and its top candidate Wolfgang Wiehle said: “We will not give election recommendations. If the CSU boss and the mayor appear on an anti-AfD demo, there is no reason for an election recommendation. ”
2020 local elections: this is how voting is carried out before the runoff election
The election campaign for the runoff election is almost completely stopped. SPD deputy Roland Fischer told our newspaper: “We will be posters until the middle of the week. Otherwise, nothing will happen on the street. ”The election campaign is primarily carried out online. How the CSU does this is still “completely open,” said Mayor Manuel Pretzl . "Information stands are rather unlikely ..."
Surveys on the OB election in Munich show a clear trend. You can find all the important information on runoff voting in this article
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
S. Karowski, K. Vick