The 2020 local elections in Bavaria take place in Corona times: Mayors and local parliaments are elected on Sunday. In the news ticker we will keep you up to date on election evening.
- In Bavaria, the local elections 2020 will take place on March 15, despite the corona virus. Mayors and local parliaments are elected.
- The overall result from the Free State can be found in this article at Merkur.de *.
- You can find an overview of the results of all elections on Merkur.de * in interactive maps.
- We send you the most important stories from your Merkur.de * region once a week in our free, local newsletter. Register and receive all information about the election on Monday morning at 6 a.m.
+++ Mayor election results +++
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+++ Results city and local council elections +++
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Update of March 16, 6.45 a.m .: The local elections in Bavaria will be overshadowed by the Corona crisis in 2020. Nevertheless, the next ballot is already on the table: in many municipalities, a runoff election is pending. Among other things, there was no final decision on Sunday in Bavaria's three largest cities, Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg. In total, mayors were elected in 24 of 25 independent cities on Sunday. The incumbents were re-elected in eight cities. In 16, the run-off elections scheduled for March 29 must decide.
Due to the acute infection situation in Bavaria, voters for the run-off election on March 29 should receive their postal ballot papers by post in the next few days. How and whether regular election offices will be open on March 29 does not yet seem clear.
The turnout in Bavaria was higher than in 2014 (55 percent), despite the spread of the corona virus. According to the first figures from the Bavarian Radio, it could be 58.5 percent nationwide. There was a significant increase, especially among mail voters.
In Munich, Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) has to run for the runoff - but in the first round he was very clearly ahead of his challengers from the Greens and the CSU. Greens candidate Katrin Habenschaden already declared her defeat behind Kristina Frank of the CSU before the counting of all votes ended.
In Nuremberg, after the long-time mayor Ulrich Maly has resigned, the SPD has to fear for the executive chair in the town hall: its candidate Thorsten Brehm has to run in a run-off election against Marcus König (CSU). And after counting all votes on Sunday evening, CSU man König was even just ahead of SPD candidate Brehm.
In Augsburg, after the waiver of OB Kurt Grib l (CSU), the CSU candidate and former mayor Eva Weber was clearly ahead with 43.1 percent. Dirk Wurm , the SPD applicant, came in second. The green candidate Martina Wild had to settle for third place.
2020 local election: remarkable OB election trend - postponement postponement due to corona crisis?
Update of March 15, 11:40 pm: The mayoral run-off elections are to take place in Bavaria in two weeks, including in Nuremberg - the emphasis could be on the word “should”. The head of the CSU district association Nuremberg-Fürth-Schwabach, Michael Frieser, had already thought aloud on Sunday about rescheduling the election date. The reason is the corona virus .
A shift is “not excluded,” said Frieser of the website nordbayern.de . Whether this is possible and sensible has to be checked. It may be necessary to reduce polling stations due to the virus crisis.
Local elections in Bavaria: First conclusion of the election evening - tighter results, (still) little success for the Greens
11.35 p.m .: A first conclusion of the mayoral elections in Bavaria's most important cities : In 24 independent cities in the Free State , a new head of city was elected on Sunday - in 16 of them, a runoff election is necessary according to Merkur.de *. So the trend in Bavaria's big cities seems to be towards tighter election results .
Of the eight mayors who have already been confirmed or newly elected, five are provided by the CSU; a CDU politician continues to hold office in Würzburg, two town hall chairmen went to the SPD. There was no change of party in the mayor's office in all eight cities. Markus Pannermayr (CSU) in Straubing achieved the best result in urban districts with 73.25 percent.
When the run-off elections are due on March 29, the duel “ CSU against SPD ” will be ten times in the urban districts. The Greens still have three candidates in the second round of the election, namely in Bamberg, Landshut and Rosenheim. with it are also a non-party candidate (in Ansbach), the Bayreuth mayor Brigitte Merk-Erben from the Free Voting Association Bayreuth Community and the FDP man Alexander Putz (in Landshut).
At first glance, this is a good result for the CSU, it has not yet lost any mayor post in the independent cities. The same also applies to the SPD - and the Social Democrats could secure a few large cities for themselves in the second ballot, including Munich, Nuremberg and Erlangen . The Greens had been rated more strongly before election day. It also seems unlikely that they will still get an OB position in two weeks - all three run-off candidates only have outsider chances. The party currently appears as one of the losers in the local election.
However, the eco-party could still have success stories on Monday. Then, when the city council elections are counted . In Munich, for example, the Greens are on track to become the strongest faction in the city council, as Merkur.de * reports.
Local election 2020 in Bavaria: 19-year-old could be Bavaria's youngest mayor
11.30 p.m .: A 19-year-old could soon be in charge of office in Lichtenberg, Bavaria (district of Hof) . Law student Kristan von Waldenfels (CSU) made it into the runoff. And after the first round of voting, he is even in front - if only by a narrow margin. With 47.9 percent of Waldenfels in front of his competitor, SPD candidate Jürgen Lindner (46.7 percent) in the second round of voting, reports the Bavarian radio.
The young mayor is currently completing his law degree at the University of Bayreuth. In the meantime, the weeks before the local elections were difficult in Lichtenberg. At the age of only 58, the previous mayor, CSU politician Holger Knüppel , died unexpectedly in mid-February. The cause of death was probably heart failure. He had been in office since 2014, but had announced before his death that he would not re-apply.
10:56 p.m .: In the district of Starnberg, the candidate for the district council of the CSU and the applicant of the Greens go to the runoff . CSU candidate Stefan Frey, son of Altlandrat Heinrich Frey, came to 42.30 percent of the vote after the preliminary final result. Martina Neubauer (Greens) followed with 30.42 percent.
Local elections in Bavaria: Söder's former minister Hans Reichhart becomes district administrator
10:39 p.m .: The former Minister of Construction from the Söder cabinet, Hans Reichhart (CSU), did not speculate with his change to local politics: Reichhart was elected to the new district administrator in the Swabian district of Günzburg on Sunday in the first ballot.
In the vote on Sunday, he landed clearly in first place with 55.6 percent. The Greens candidate, MP Max Deisenhofer, came 26.6 percent behind. Reichhart had given up his post in the cabinet a few weeks ago to concentrate on the election campaign, as Merkur.de * reported.
10:28 p.m .: The Greens anticipate gains in local parliaments across Bavaria. "We want to strengthen our mandates very, very clearly," said State Chair Eva Lettenbauer on Sunday evening in Munich. "Pleasant feedback" came from all over Bavaria. Co-country chairman Eike Hallitzky commented: "We see that our long-term work for climate protection and social cohesion is bearing fruit."
Local elections in Bavaria: City Council results from Munich - Greens could become the strongest force
22.07 clock: Interim results are now also available for the Munich City Council election . The strongest force after partial counting of 969 of the 1,274 voting districts is the Greens , as Merkur.de * reports. They come to 29.2 percent. The SPD loses a good eight percentage points to just 22.5 percent. The CSU is currently the second strongest with 25.7 percent. However, the Christian Socialists also lose significantly compared to 2014.
Twelve parties would currently make it into the city council - including the Rosa Liste, the Bavarian Party, the Munich List, the PARTEI and Volt , each with one seat. The AfD could gain two seats and occupy four seats on the city council.
However, the interim results are based on trend reports from the voting districts . Noticeable shifts in the seat distribution are still possible.
22:03: CSU boss Markus Söder sees the Greens as one of the losers in the local election. "A few weeks ago it was said that the Greens will march through the elections everywhere," said Söder in the evening on Bavarian Radio - the trend is now "rather uncomfortable" for the eco-party. Söder was also pleased that the AfD was at the Choice "played no substantial role".
Local elections in Bavaria 2020: turnout increases significantly - despite corona virus
9:56 pm: There are now clear facts about the turnout in the Bavarian local elections - it has actually increased noticeably . According to a report by the BR, 58.5 percent of those eligible to vote made their crosses on Sunday. In 2014 it was 54.7 percent. A remarkable result, especially given the coronavirus crisis. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) announced on Sunday evening that the Free State would declare the disaster.
9.45pm: The OB election in Munich brought some surprises on Sunday - the reactions of the candidates can now be found at Merkur.de *.
Meanwhile, there is bad news for Bavaria's longest-serving mayor : Hermann Anselstetter (SPD) lost 43.27 percent to the candidate of the free voters, Jochen Trier, who came to 56.73 percent. The Upper Franconian market Wirsberg (district Kulmbach) has a new mayor after 42 years.
9:38 pm: The only Muslim candidate for mayor of the CSU, Ozan Iyibas , missed the move into the town hall of Neufahrn near Freising. The bank clerk came in the local elections on Sunday to 21.76 percent. Mayor of the municipality in the catchment area of Munich Airport remains the Green Franz Heilmeier , who has been running the town hall since 2014 and received 50.66 percent of the vote.
© AFP / CHRISTOF STACHE
The CSU leadership had welcomed Iyibas' candidacy in January. He was hailed as the best possible candidate on site, as Merkur.de * reported. Shortly before, the possible Muslim candidate for Mayor Sener Sahin had given up in Wallerstein (district of Donau-Ries) due to resistance at his own party base.
Local elections in Bavaria: flop for Hans Söllner
9:32 p.m .: Hans Söllner had drawn some interest in the run-up to the local elections: the controversial Bavarian cult songwriter competed in Bad Reichenhall in the mayoral election. Söllner's idea - about which Merkur.de * reported, among others - did not meet with a particularly great love among the voters of the large district town.
Hans Söllner competed for the mayor's election in Bad Reichenhall with great media interest.
© dpa / Uwe Lein
According to the city, the musician only finished fifth among a total of seven applicants. Söllner received 8.4 percent of the votes - significantly less than the run-off participants Christoph Lung (CSU, 32.6 percent) and Monika Tauber-Spring (list of citizens, 20.5 percent). Incumbent Herbert Lackner also had to make do with a disappointing 19.3 percent.
Local elections in Bavaria: huge interest among voters causes technical problems for local authorities
9:21 pm: The election results are currently not correctly displayed on the websites of some Bavarian municipalities. The reason is a technical problem with a system of the Institute for Municipal Data Processing in Bavaria (AKDB). "At the moment there are disruptions in the Internet presentation of the election results," AKDB spokesman Florian Kunstein said on request from Merkur.de *. However, the process of counting votes per se was not affected, he emphasized.
The cause of the technical breakdown is still unclear, but Kunstein suspects that the system is overloaded. The number of page views is unusually high in this year's municipal election. At the moment, the relevant pages were viewed about ten times as often as in the previous European elections. According to the spokesman, work is being carried out to remedy the fault. He hoped for a solution later in the election evening.
9:15 p.m .: Remarkable note from the district of Munich: Here a mayor celebrates his election in quarantine. Stefan Kern (CSU) has once again received the confidence of voters in Brunnthal - after a skiing holiday in Tyrol, however, he recently suffered from cough and fever, as Merkur.de * reports.
Local election 2020: Disappointing evening for Greens - maximum one OB in Bavaria's largest cities
8:55 p.m .: Now it is probably fixed: In Bavaria's ten largest cities, there will also be a maximum of one Green OB in the future. The only chance is Jonas Glüsenkamp in Bamberg, he has moved into the runoff. In Fürth, SPD man Thomas Jung was re-elected with landslide-like 72.9 percent of the vote. In Erlangen, candidates from SPD and CSU are running for the runoff with Florian Janik and Jörg Volleth.
In the meantime, it is also becoming apparent who will be in the run-off in addition to favorites Eva Weber (CSU) and Dieter Reiter (SPD) in Augsburg and Munich: It will probably be Dirk Wurm (SPD) and Kristina Frank (CSU). The Greens candidates Martina Wild and Katrin Habenschaden each rank third after the current count. Ch
8:43 pm: Also in Aschaffenburg , the CSU and SPD will vote in a run-off election for the mayor for the next six years. Jürgen Herzing (SPD) achieved 47.88 percent of the vote on Sunday. This gave him a clear lead over Jessica Euler (CSU) with 29.56 percent. The Green Party candidate, Stefan Wagener, reached 15.13 percent.
8:39 pm: A short result in the election on Sunday in Bayreuth : The incumbent mayor Brigitte Merk-Erben of the Free Voting Association Bayreuth Community achieved 25.5 percent. It was therefore just under the long-standing second mayor Thomas Ebersberger (CSU) with 26 percent. SPD candidate Andreas Zippel was also just behind with 24.3 percent. Klaus Wührl-Struller (Greens) made 12.5 percent in the tenth largest city in Bavaria.
Local elections in Bavaria: Würzburg keeps CDU mayor - further disappointment for Greens
20:35: Würzburg is still the only Bavarian city to be governed by a mayor of the CDU. Incumbent Christian Schuchardt won almost 52 percent of the vote in the first ballot. There is also one here
Disappointment for the Greens : Schuchardt clearly prevailed against his Greens challenger Martin Heilig, as is clear from the information from the Würzburg electoral office.
Heilig, who had been given chances of victory beforehand, received around 32 percent of the vote. Schuchardt comes from Frankfurt am Main and is a Hesse member of the CDU. But he had started as a joint candidate of the CSU, FDP and Bürgerforum Würzburg .
8:25 p.m .: There will also be a runoff election for the OB position in Bavaria's ninth largest city Bamberg . The incumbent Mayor of Bamberg, Andreas Starke (SPD), has to assert himself in a second round of elections. With Jonas Glüsenkamp, his opponent turns green. Strong reached 35.9 percent. He has been chief of the town hall since 2006, it would be his third term. The Greens candidate won 24.6 percent of the vote. The CSU candidate Christian Lange only got 21.9 percent.
8:19 p.m .: In Coburg , citizens can once again elect their mayor: Dominik Sauerteig (SPD) and Christian Meyer (CSU) are running for the runoff . The SPD candidate reached 27.9 percent on Sunday, his competitor from the CSU 26.8 percent. Nine candidates had put themselves up for election. Thomas Apfel (PRO Coburg voters) received 18.5 percent of the vote, Ina Sinterhauf (Greens) 10.9 percent. All other applicants remained in the single-digit range.
Local elections in Bavaria 2020: surprise in the district of Miesbach - bitter evening for the Greens?
8:06 pm: Surprise in the district of Miesbach: The green district administrator Wolfgang Rzehak is significantly behind his CSU challenger Olaf von Löwis, as Merkur.de * reports. After counting around two thirds of the votes, Rzehak was around 27 percent. From Löwis, previously the mayor of Holzkirchen, came to around 35 percent. It boils down to a runoff election.
Rzehak had particularly lost sympathy in the water dispute *. The background: a few farmers should no longer graze their cattle on additional areas to guarantee clean water for Munich. Rzehak has been the district administrator of Miesbach for six years; in 2014 he became the first green district administrator in Bavaria. His CSU predecessor Jakob Kreidl stumbled across the Miesbach savings bank affair.
The Greens could be among the losers of the local election evening . Obena candidate Verena Osgyan apparently had no chance in Nuremberg and Katrin Habenschaden could also surprisingly miss the runoff election in Munich. In Bavaria's largest cities, runoff duels between CSU and SPD candidates are almost constant. Damage to property and also the Augsburg Greens applicant Martina Wild could still make the leap into the second round of elections.
Local elections in Bavaria: Exciting look-up - presidential election in Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg and Ingolstadt
7:53 p.m .: The run-off elections for the Bavarian mayoral elections in two weeks will also be another big day for the election workers in the country. Not only in Nuremberg, Augsburg, Regensburg and Ingolstadt , where CSU and SPD candidates are likely to go into the second round, but also in Munich , a runoff election is obviously necessary, as Merkur.de * reports.
Local elections in Bavaria: Munich is counted here.
© dpa / Sven Hoppe
There are the tightest races in Nuremberg and Ingolstadt. In Munich and Augsburg, however, clear favorites: In the state capital, incumbent Dieter Reiter (SPD) did not achieve an absolute majority with around 48 percent of the votes, but a massive lead over his competitors. CSU wife Kristina Frank is currently in second place. At the beginning of the evening, the Green Katrin Habenschaden was still the favorite for the runoff. According to the BR, 90 percent of the votes are currently counted in Munich.
Tight race in Nuremberg: Marcus König (CSU) should move into the run-off election against SPD candidate Thorsten Brehm.
© dpa / Daniel Karmann
In Augsburg, CSU candidate Eva Weber enters the race with a clear tailwind - it is still unclear whether Dirk Wurm (SPD) or Martina Wild (Greens) may challenge Weber. Both are almost the same at almost 20 percent. In Regensburg, preliminary numbers in the first ballot Astrid Freudenstein (CSU) had a seven percent lead over SPD candidate Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfrischer, as the Mittelbayerische reports.
Local elections in Bavaria: Passau and Straubing have a decision - run-off elections in Ansbach and Landshut
7.48 p.m .: Carda Seidel , the incumbent, has to fear the runoff election and mayor office for the mayor election in Ansbach . According to the preliminary end result, the independent Seidel only achieved 31.4 percent of the vote. Her CSU challenger Thomas Deffner won 36.1 percent of the vote. Seidel has been head of town in Ansbach since 2008.
OB candidates in Straubing and Passau can already look forward to: In Straubing, CSU politician Markus Pannermayr defended his post with a whopping 73.25 percent of the vote. In Passau, Jürgen Dupper from the SPD is allowed to remain in office and dignity for another six years - he has been head of the Three Rivers City for twelve years.
7.43 p.m .: In Landshut , the OB election has already been counted: incumbent Alexander Putz must actually be in the run-off election against the Green Sigi Hagl.
7:36 p.m .: Despite the results of the mayoral elections in Bavaria, which are now coming in, one question probably remains after the election evening: Was it the right decision to hold the local elections in the usual way despite the corona crisis ? You can find out more about the background to the debate in this text at Merkur.de *.
Local elections in Bavaria: Rosenheim is heading for a run-off election between CSU and Greens candidates
7:33 p.m .: There will also be a runoff election for the mayor's office in Rosenheim . Andreas März from the CSU is well ahead - but an absolute majority is not in sight, according to rosenheim24.de *. In the crucial round, Franz Opperer should be a green. In Bad Aibling , ten kilometers away, there is obviously a head-to-head race between CSU (Stephan Schlier) and Greens (Martina Thalmayr) - which is quite unusual for Upper Bavaria.
19:28: It will be exciting in Ingolstadt - there is a runoff election. As the Danube courier reports online, the candidates Christian Lösel (CSU) and Christian Scharpf (SPD) are currently almost on par. 33.52 and 33.30 percent were recorded at 7.14 p.m. At this point, only eight voting districts were missing. "I am very optimistic about the runoff selection," Scharpf told the newspaper already.
In the meantime, the first mayors have already been determined in the Munich district - for example in Ismaning, as Merkur.de * reports.
Breakdown in local election 2020: "Bavaria-wide" technical problems?
7:11 p.m .: Apparently there are major technical problems in the Bavarian municipal elections : The system of the "Institution for Municipal Data Processing in Bavaria" does not work as intended, nordbayern.de learned from several voting districts, for example from the district of Fürth and the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt . There is talk of " Bavaria-wide performance problems ".
According to a report by the Frankenpost , the central data center for the whole of Upper Franconia has “problems with the output”. Election results came in, but could not be presented to the outside world. Even employees in the district offices could not access the results. It is unclear how long it will take to correct the error.
7:07 p.m .: Fürth's SPD Mayor Thomas Jung has the best chance of being re-elected. After around 50 percent of the counted voting districts, Jung is practically impossible to catch up with a good 73 percent of the votes. The next best applicant, Dietmar Helm from the CSU, came to less than ten percent after 91 out of 131 counted voting areas. Jung has been Mayor of the City of Fürth since 2002.
Local elections in Bavaria: Reiter could directly defend Munich OB office - Wolbergs with chances in Regensburg
18:58: The first figures are now from Munich: Incumbent Dieter Reiter (SPD) currently has more than 48 percent of the vote - an absolute majority seems to be within reach. The evening is bitter for the CSU. Her candidate Kristina Frank is currently only third with 19.8 percent. Should there be a runoff , the Green Katrin Habenschaden (21.2 percent) would be Reiters competitor.
18:54: The election evening in Regensburg could remain exciting for a long time. The CSU candidate Astrid Freudenstein is currently leading the race somewhat reasonably. With 27.0 percent of the vote, a direct victory is out of reach. SPD woman Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer could make it into a run-off vote, she got 22.5 percent - or ex-OB Joachim Wolbergs , who got 19.3 percent. He was suspended as a result of a corruption affair.
Local elections in Bavaria 2020: run-off election also in Augsburg? CSU is in the front
6.50 p.m .: In Augsburg, too, there is a smell of runoff voting - but with a clear advantage for the CSU . After counting around half of the votes, Christian Social Eva Weber is in the front with 41.8 percent. Dirk Wurm of the SPD is currently in second place with (only) 18.7 percent of the vote. The CSU politician Kurt Gribl was mayor of Augsburg for the last twelve years.
6.45 p.m .: Nuremberg may actually be preparing for an OB runoff. According to the city, there is a head-to-head race between CSU candidate Marcus König (currently 37.09 percent) and SPD applicant Thorsten Brehm (35.27 percent) after 281 of 524 counted counties. The Greens may well say goodbye to the dream of a Nuremberg mayor's chair.
18:36: The first findings are also from Amberg . According to information from BR CSU man Michael Cerny, the race is likely to go ahead - presumably without runoff. In Landshut , Lower Bavaria, more than half of the votes are counted. The incumbent is Alexander Putz (FDP) with 42.1 percent, the Green Sigi Hagl could make the leap into the runoff election with 24.4 percent. There had been spicy headlines about Hagl in summer 2019 - the reason was their liaison with an FDP politician, as reported by Merkur.de * among others.
Local election 2020 in Bavaria: First numbers from Nuremberg - Probably runoff election between CSU and SPD applicants
6:35 p.m .: First tender indications of the outcome of the OB election are now from Nuremberg : As the Nürnberger Nachrichten report online, a runoff election between the candidates Marcus König (CSU) and Thorsten Brehm (SPD) could be emerging. The Green Verena Osgyan is clearly behind - however, after less than 100 counted out of 524 electoral districts, it is not yet a “trend”, as the election management emphasizes. In Nuremberg, incumbent Ulrich Maly (SPD) relinquishes the post of mayor after around 18 years.
There is currently a runoff election between König (CSU) and Brehm (SPD). However, only 85 out of 524 voting districts are counted. "This is not yet a trend!" Said election manager Schäfer. The two candidates are head to head. pic.twitter.com/Vj4ig0pPc1
- The local editorial team (@nn_lokales) March 15, 2020Local elections in Bavaria in the sign of Corona - turnout is increasing, election party on the sofa
6:22 p.m .: The election day is not a normal one for the Bavarian top politicians either: The big election parties are canceled in many places - also in Munich. The Green Party parliamentary group leader Katharina Schulze , according to her own statements, follows the events with “specials, gummy bears, cookies” at home, on “two screens to look at the websites in parallel”.
6:08 p.m .: Voter turnout in the Bavarian local elections may have increased not only in the big cities, but also in the countryside - at least a vague hint in this direction is provided by a message from the Kulmbach district in Upper Franconia: the turnout was already there at 4 p.m. 63.35 percent. In 2014 there were a total of 60.47 percent of those entitled to vote to the polls.
Current announcement on the local elections 2020: the turnout in the district of Kulmbach at 4:00 p.m. was 63.35%‼ ️ This means that we now have a higher turnout than in the entire local election 2014 (60.47%).
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The polling station has until 6 p.m.… https://t.co/iK6psXQTo2 pic.twitter.com/8y1uOUNScz
6:00 p.m .: The polling stations have now closed all over Bavaria. The wait for the first results from the cities, municipalities and districts begins. However, Bavarian Broadcasting does not expect the first trends until 6.30 p.m.
Local election in Bavaria in the coronavirus crisis: Franconian CSU mayor candidate in quarantine
5:52 p.m .: There is a message typical of this unusual election day from the city of Pegnitz in Upper Franconia : There the CSU mayor candidate Werner Lappat is in domestic corona quarantine, as nordbayern.de writes. But apparently it is a precaution. According to the health department, Lappat has been told to stay at home. The politician had last been in Tyrol for two weeks.
5.47 p.m .: The corona crisis overshadows the local elections in Bavaria on Sunday: From next week, there will be far stricter rules for curbing the virus in the Free State - but the elections will still take place regularly. This fact also causes criticism . A comedian did not save on election day with drastic words, as Merkur.de * reports.
Munich: An election worker with a plague mask prepares the counting of the postal vote in a trade fair hall.
© dpa / Sven Hoppe
Local elections in Bavaria 2020: First important question of the day cleared - election center in Ingolstadt suffers from Corona
17:38: Does the Corona crisis affect the result of the local election in Bavaria ? That was one of the big questions before election day. Well, almost 20 minutes before the polling stations close, the answer seems clear - at least with regard to the turnout in the big cities - it is "No".
Because not only in Munich, but also in Nuremberg, Augsburg and Würzburg , there were higher turnouts in the afternoon than in the previous local elections in 2014, as the dpa and the Augsburger Allgemeine reported.
However, the processes in the background are apparently affected in some places: There were delays in the transmission of the figures on the turnout in Ingolstadt . There the election center suffered from the numerous failures of the election workers. Several should have canceled at short notice because they could no longer perform their task after returning from corona risk areas .
Local elections 2020 in Bavaria: curious scene in Augsburg - Claudia Roth takes the "Corona greeting"
5.17 p.m .: Green politician Claudia Roth also voted in Augsburg on Sunday afternoon. The mayor of Augsburg, Eva Weber (CSU) , did not greet her with a handshake, but with a “corona greeting” , in which only the elbows touched instead of the palms of the hands. "Elections in the times of Corona," wrote the Augsburg Green Party politician Matthias Lorentzen to a picture of the scene that he posted on Twitter.
Elections in Corona times. #wirundjetzt #Augsburg #Kommunalwahl # Kommunalwahl2020 # Greetingsmalanders @Eva_K_Weber #ClaudiaRoth pic.twitter.com/3HMhlgvNrS
- Matthias Lorentzen (@Lorentzen_M_) March 15, 20204.30 p.m .: The comparatively high turnout in the Bavarian local elections so far shows that the people of Bavaria braved the invisible threat of the new corona virus without panic. Until now, there were hardly any masked people in the polling stations, but a lot of disinfectants , their own pens and additional rows of tables as a safety distance. The fears of a low voter turnout due to corona do not seem to come true. In hectic coronavirus times, serenity on election Sunday may also be a welcome change for many people, as some go on a Sunday excursion afterwards.
Local elections 2020 in Bavaria: turnout is likely to be higher than in 2014
2:40 pm: In Bavaria , early Sunday afternoon there is already a higher turnout than six years ago. As early as 1.30 p.m., Munich city councilor Anne Hübner (SPD) reported a turnout for Bavaria of 40.6 percent . In 2014 it totaled 42 percent. She is currently expecting a 50 percent stake, wrote Hübner on Twitter.
Voter turnout in # Munich at 2 p.m. at 41.9% is already at the level of 2014. Forecast for 6 p.m .: 50% is exceeded. The people about their right to vote despite Corona! # Local elections # bavaria elections
- Anne Hübner (@AnnieMuc) March 15, 2020In Munich on Sunday, March 15, by 12 noon, 36.6 percent of those entitled to vote had cast their votes by postal vote. In 2014, it was 26.9 percent at the same time. Above all, growth in postal voting is expected.
According to the city, the turnout in Regensburg until 12 p.m. was 40.3 percent, also including the postal voters. So far, 14.9 percent have voted without postal voters.
In Augsburg , the turnout in the urn election up to 12.00 was 7.5 percent. Nuremberg reported 18.8 percent turnout, a little more than in 2014.
There were delays in the transmission of the turnout figures in Ingolstadt. There the election center suffered from the numerous failures of the election workers. Several should have canceled at short notice because they could no longer perform their task after returning from corona risk areas. By 11:00 am, the turnout was 9.6 percent, excluding postal voters.
2020 local elections: ballot box despite Corona - all information from all over Bavaria in the ticker
Statement of origin from March 15, 2020:
Munich - The good news in advance: The local elections in Bavaria are taking place today ( March 15 ) as planned. Actually, a fact that does not require special mention - we lived in normal times.
In view of the coronavirus, which is also rampant in the Free State, and the associated cancellation of all kinds of events, Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) was again forced on Friday to emphasize this banal fact: "The local election will take place," he said.
In the evening, this will deal with gratifyingly non-medical questions: City councils, town councils, district councilors, district councils, district days and district committees are determined from Swabia to Upper Franconia and from Upper Bavaria to Lower Franconia. 2056 local parliaments alone are being reassembled.
Local elections 2020 in Bavaria: Exciting OB elections in Munich, Augsburg, Nuremberg
Of course, the elections of mayors and mayors in Bavarian cities and municipalities are particularly in focus. In the end, a possible political change rarely becomes as visible as with such a choice of people. And not least in the Bavarian cities of Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg , not only prestigious but also close decisions can be expected.
According to a survey by the tz *, the Greens could represent the strongest faction in Munich - in the OB election, however, it could amount to a runoff election between incumbent and favorite Dieter Reiter (SPD) and the Greens Katrin Habenschaden . Merkur.de * prepares the results from Munich in a practical interactive map.
The three most promising candidates in the OB election in Munich - Katrin Habenschaden (Greens), Dieter Reiter (SPD), Kristina Frank (CSU; from left to right)
© dpa / Sven Hoppe
There will definitely be a new mayor in Nuremberg * and Augsburg : Ulrich Maly (SPD) and Kurt Gribl (CSU) are no longer available for election. The situation in Regensburg was also exciting: There, Joachim Wolbergs , who was elected in 2014, was suspended from work in a corruption affair. Many of the allegations against Wolbergs have now been dismissed, but he is still on trial. Despite being suspended, he will compete on Sunday for a specially founded association - and no longer for the SPD. He is still said to have good chances *.
Local election 2020 in Bavaria: How does the corona virus affect the elections?
However, it is not a completely normal local election: it remains to be seen whether the fear of being infected with the corona virus will reduce voter turnout and thus influence the election results. Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) assured a few days ago that visiting a polling station was unproblematic. "Nobody should be deterred from voting." However, the election campaign has largely been stopped and election parties canceled after the polling stations closed .
In the recent local elections in 2014, the CSU had become the strongest force in Bavaria with 39.7 percent, ahead of the SPD with 20.7 percent. The national result next Sunday is likely to differ significantly from that six years ago: On the one hand, the AfD is now anchored in many municipalities. Above all, however, the Greens have recently become the second strongest force. The outcome in 2020 should also concern the state parties.
Local election 2020 in Bavaria: CSU announces reaction to Corona - runoff election is also different
One thing is already certain: At the CSU leadership , the election analysis will look a little different than usual. The board meeting planned for Monday was canceled due to the corona problem. Instead, there should now be a conference call. Nevertheless, the public does not have to do without the findings of the exchange: CSU boss Markus Söder and General Markus Blume nevertheless come to a press conference at the party headquarters in the north of Munich.
The Bavarian #munal election will take place on Sunday as planned. For run-off elections in two weeks, all voters will automatically receive postal ballot documents by mail. #coronadeutschland pic.twitter.com/AwoMKH4THT
- Markus Söder (@Markus_Soeder) March 13, 2020Another point in connection with the local election will run differently than usual. The runoff elections on March 29th, which are certainly necessary in many municipalities, will be a small novelty - they will generally be carried out by postal vote. The documents will be sent from Monday.
fn / dpa / AFP
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* Merkur.de, tz.de and rosenheim24.de are part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Peter Kneffel