A record percentage of postal voters is expected in the Bundestag election on Sunday.
This is also evident in the municipalities in the district.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen -
In many municipalities in the district, over half of those eligible to vote have already requested postal voting documents.
“So far, 1328 of the 2,600 eligible voters have applied for postal votes, and there is no end in sight,” says Christine Wiedemann from the Wackersberg community office.
In addition to Corona, she can imagine other reasons.
Citizens appreciate the peace and quiet at home
“People appreciate the peace and quiet at home. Many of them may not yet know what to choose and can make their own decisions at home. ”In addition, she suspects, many people want to keep Sunday free. The processing of postal voting applications is currently Wiedemann's main occupation. “Some citizens come by in person to pick up the documents. But with the postal applications we make sure that we always send them out on the same day. "
In Bad Tölz, the number of postal voting stations has been increased from three to eight, as election manager Wolfgang Steger explains.
"We have also assigned two colleagues who are solely responsible for processing the postal vote." Of the total of 13,345 eligible voters, 5944 postal votes have been received so far, according to Steger.
“That's 44.5 percent of all eligible voters.” In 2017, of 13,275 eligible voters, 3972 voted by letter.
According to Steger, many want to avoid the rush on election day in order to avoid infection with Corona.
But other reasons would also play a role.
"In addition, thanks to our online offer, it is now very easy to apply for a postal vote without having to go to the town hall."
Corona has accelerated the trend towards postal voting
In Reichersbeuern, too, postal voters make up more than half of all eligible voters.
"We have now received 2200 postal voting applications from 4,100 eligible voters," says Mayor Ernst Dieckmann.
"At that time, we never had such a high number in the past." According to Dieckmann, the trend towards postal voting was already evident before the pandemic.
"Corona only accelerated it."
In Königsdorf, the postal voter turnout is actually always quite high, says Christine Jakobi, the election officer of the community.
“You also notice that people don't like going to the polling station.
Most cite Corona as the reason. ”In Königsdorf, 978 out of 2,389 eligible voters voted by letter in the last federal election, this year there are more than 1,324 postal votes from 2,400 eligible voters.
"People have become more comfortable"
“We have never had so many postal voters as this year,” says Markus Pleyer from the Bad Heilbrunn community office.
So far 1495 of the 2961 eligible voters have applied for postal voting there.
"I think that's not just due to Corona," said Pleyer.
"Many people have also become more comfortable and want to vote in peace."
This year, 17,316 eligible voters will be asked to vote in Geretsried.
"So far, we have received 7489 postal votes," says Thomas Loibl, city spokesman.
“In 2017 we had 4,891 actual postal voters.
So we are seeing a significant increase in this election. "
At the moment, a certain number of counters in the Geretsried residents' registration office only processes postal voting applications.
In addition, an additional postal voting station was set up for election day.
In Wolfratshausen, more than half of the residents who are eligible to vote have also requested postal voting documents.
According to the deputy polling officer Michael Nussbaumer, there were 7,292 applications with 13,383 eligible voters by Tuesday.
In 2017, almost 5,000 Wolfratshausers cast their votes by postal vote.
You can read more news from the Bad Tölz region here.
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our new, regular Bad Tölz newsletter.
