Before Péter Vida can only open her mouth, the woman is already yelling, "Get off my property!" Vida obeys and begins the retreat. But when she tells him that he's "determined by Jehovah's Witnesses," he turns around and says, "No, I'm from the Free Voters."
House door election campaign is no picnic, certainly not as a representative of a small party. Péter Vida, 35, is chairman of the "Brandenburger Vereinigte Bürgerbewegungen / Freie Voter" (BVB / FW). At the last state election, they came to just 2.7 percent.
This time, most polls currently see free voters at up to four percent. And yet they could play a crucial role after this election: they may even talk with them when it comes to who will govern Brandenburg in the future.
But for Péter Vida must vigorously collect first votes and win his constituency Barnim II directly, which considers the portal wahlkreisprognose.de quite likely. Then not only Vida for the BVB / FW would move into the state legislature, but also other MPs - thanks to the so-called in Brandenburg so-called basic mandate clause. This means: If a party wins at least one direct mandate, then their second vote share in the allocation of Landtag seats is considered even if it is below the five percent threshold.
Four percent - that could mean four or five seats. And with the demos predicting a tight race for Brandenburg, finding a stable majority could come down to those seats.
Free voters already represented in the state parliament
Already at the last election, the group was drafted in spite of their meager result with three MPs in the Potsdam Parliament. In 2014 Christoph Schulze won the constituency Teltow-Fläming. Schulze could benefit from his home advantage: He had always won his constituency since 1990, but always before for the SPD.
The Free Voters finally had three MPs in the state parliament. But the group quarreled, Schulze and a colleague stepped out, since then sits alone Vida still for the BVB / FW in parliament. "It was a difficult time, but we came out of it stronger," says Vida. If one actually plays a role in coalition building, he is ready to talk to all parties except the AfD.
Vida hopes for a local bonus. In the local elections, the Free Voters were the strongest force in the city council Bernaus, Vida is chairman of the municipal parliament. The free voters in Barnim also performed particularly well nationwide.
Nine votes ahead decided the constituency
But Barnim II is a highly competitive constituency. In 2009, the SPD deputy and current state parliament president Britta Stark won the direct mandate with only nine votes ahead of Ralf Christoffers, candidate of the left. Both apply again this year for direct entry into the state parliament. So it could be tight for Vida.
Accordingly, he fights in Bernau and the surrounding area for the votes. The Bernauer Zentrum is dominated by the yellow-and-blue posters of the Freie Voters, with his face hanging on every corner. Vida has decided that at least once a representative of the Free Voters should have rung at every door in the constituency until the election.
Monika Skolimowska / DPA
Péter Vida and CDU top candidate Ingo Senftleben: The Free Voters want to talk to everyone - except the AfD
He and his helpers divided the area among themselves. Vida herself has taken over Schwanebeck, where the Free Voters have done significantly worse in the local elections. The tension of the election campaign is to be noted. Nervously, he prances up and down when he waits for the doors to be opened, he hardly lays the cell phone out of his hand.
Péter Vida co-founded the group BVB / FW in 2009. Previously, the politician with Hungarian roots in the CDU and a municipal voters group was active. Although the free voters in Brandenburg work together with the Federal Association of Free Voters, but are not a member there. Vida explains that they want to concentrate fully on local and state politics in Brandenburg, without anyone from the federal government interfering.
The content of the Brandenburg Free Voters differs from those of the same name. While the Free Voters in Bavaria and the CSU govern in a conservative-bourgeois coalition, in Brandenburg they are looking for a more liberal profile and call for free day-care, extension of public transport and more support for refugees during integration. "We are not as conservatively rooted as those in Bavaria," says Vida. In any case, he does not see the Free Voters as a party with an ideological superstructure, but rather as a collection of communal initiatives and groups.
For six weeks he is almost every night on the road, even on weekends. Vida's belief is, "When you reach the people at the door, they are more concerned with location-based content." As soon as someone opens the door, Vida tries to quickly get rid of the main points: no re-densification in the city, S-Bahn to Berlin every ten minutes - topics that move people.
The refugee policy rarely plays a role, even if it is particularly important for Vida personally. He is chairman of the Barnimer Migration Advisory Board and representative in the Integration Council of the State of Brandenburg.
On the contents, he says, it also matters to him, if after the election someone should knock because of the formation of a government. "We will not be a mere majority buyer," emphasizes Vida. He is not concerned with ministerial posts. He prefers to be the modest but brash politician who works for the interests of the citizens. He wants to participate in a government alliance only if his points are included in the coalition agreement.
To make it happen at all, Vida wants to have rung more than 3000 doors by the election Sunday in order to promote the necessary votes. And if he fails? He allegedly does not deal with this. "I do not want to waste my time thinking that it will not work out when things are going so well."