Ludwig "Wiggerl" Gollwitzer has been an election worker in Wolfratshausen for 45 years.
He's seen a lot here.
He is also back in the Bundestag election.
Wolfratshausen - Ludwig "Wiggerl" Gollwitzer has been an election worker in Wolfratshausen since 1976.
At that time he was doing an apprenticeship with the city of Wolfratshausen.
“I was conscripted,” he says.
Now he's doing it voluntarily.
Gollwitzer, 61, has missed almost no election since then.
He is also in action on Sunday in the general election.
A matter of honor.
As always, the founder of the Loisachtaler Bauernbühne and former city councilor of the Free Voters will put on his lederhosen and wait for the locals at the polling station.
Start of work in the service of democracy: 7.30 a.m.
Mr. Gollwitzer, what does an election worker earn?
That has increased over the years.
At the very beginning there was ten marks.
This year we get 50 euros plus two rolls for the federal election.
You have to indicate in advance whether you want a sandwich, a salami or a ham roll.
Have you already made your choice?
Yes, I'll have Kas and Salami.
So that I have a little variety.
(laughs).
Bundestag election: “No jokes in there!” - election worker tells about Stoiber in the polling station
Mr. Stoiber, no jokes in there, everyone has their own cabin.
Ex-Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber also had to admonish Gollwitzer during the election
I mean the real choice.
I've been a postal voter for 20 years.
As an election worker you never work in your own constituency, that's why I always mark my crosses beforehand.
The ex-Chancellor candidate and Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber lives in Wolfratshausen.
Will he vote at your polling station?
I've been an election worker for 45 years now, I've been on duty in all parts of the city.
I've had the bump two or three times.
Also this year he will vote with me.
He always says hello and we greet him with the ballot so that he can go straight to the voting booth.
In a state election, however, I had to admonish him.
Do tell.
At that time I look around the polling station and see how Mr. and Mrs. Stoiber are standing next to each other in separate voting booths.
Suddenly he goes to her cabin - and asks her something.
Maybe his pen broke off too, I don't know.
That is of course forbidden, the election is secret.
That year I was electoral officer.
Oh God, oh God, I thought to myself, now I have to go and say that this also applies to married couples and Bavarian Prime Ministers.
I did that and said: “Mr. Stoiber, no jokes in there, everyone has their own cabin.” He laughed and went straight back to his cabin.
Bundestag election: ballot or art?
- Election workers about weird voter stories
There are voters who cross out all parties on the ballot paper out of anger.
Wiggerl Gollwitzer on strange ballot papers
What else do you experience besides the Stoibers?
Locals keep coming to me and asking at the polling station: “Mr. Gollwitzer, should I really vote for the candidate now?
Or do you prefer the other? ”This happens especially in local elections. I just keep saying:“ There is no discussion in here.
Make your Kreuzl where you mean. "
Some voters are very creative.
What have you seen on ballot papers?
In federal elections, all parties are sometimes wildly crossed out out of anger until the entire ballot is invalid.
Unpopular city council candidates get it in local elections.
"Stupid pig" is then next to the name.
Or worse.
That's pretty tough.
But there is also praise: “great woman” or “great man”.
But no matter what people write on it, the ballot is then invalid.
Are there artistically valuable ballots?
Some paint the whole circle in which they should actually make a cross.
Others make huge crosses over half the ballot paper.
If the will of the electorate is clearly evident, then such a ballot paper can also be valid.
But some cases are complicated, aren't they?
Yes, for example when someone crosses out the words “Social Democratic Party Germany” with a cross.
One could now say: SPD has been crossed out, voters like the party at least of all, so the ballot paper is invalid.
Or one says: The voters think the SPD is particularly great - and they absolutely want to vote.
There are the wildest ways to fill out the ballot paper anyway.
Some don't make crosses, just small dots or lines.
As an election worker, you have to watch out like a lynx.
In cases of doubt, we look at the slip together and then vote on whether it is valid.
Other voters bring their own ballpoint pen and press it so hard that the paper almost tears.
What qualities does a good election worker need?
Patience, concentration and counting must not be nervous.
Fearlessness doesn't hurt either.
I once had a Wolfratshauser who voted for me for three or four years.
He had a huge mastiff.
The animal came to me every time while the master was in the voting booth.
The dog always drooled on the table with the ballot box on.
A mad mess.
We have already said: “Ahhh, the mastiff is coming back.” Some also take their children with them to the voting booth.
We don't mind.
But even there there can be critical incidents when the offspring shouts out loud: "Dad, why did you have your Kreuzl at the Stoiber now?"
Bundestag election: postal vote or polling station?
- a big difference for election workers
CSU voters come at 9.30 a.m. and then again at a quarter past 11. So shortly before the church or right after it.
Gollwitzer on Wolfratshauser behavior at the polls
Can you see what you are voting at the polling station?
Yes, partially.
Green voters are immediately recognizable in our country, it's still an eco-party.
(laughs).
What do social democrats look like?
Well, let's put it this way: I don't know her, but I know her.
Here in Wolfratshausen they are a bit dying out.
It's always the same.
But who knows, maybe the Scholz hype will bring the Reds a few more votes with us too.
CSU voters?
They come at 9.30 a.m. and then again at a quarter past 11. So just before church or right after going to church.
Which is better: counting the postal vote or serving at the polling station?
Toi, toi, toi, I've never gotten into a postal voting committee.
I'm glad of that.
The postal voting colleagues have to start at 3 p.m., then they open all the envelopes and check that all the ballot papers are inside.
Then the envelopes with the ballot papers come in their own urn.
You can only count after 6 p.m.
It's much more complicated than that.
We just knock down our urn in the evening and count out.
If it goes well, we'll be ready by 7 p.m.
I estimate that we will have at least 60 percent postal voters this year.
The colleagues from the postal voting committee must work two hours longer than we do.
The last state election was at the beginning of the pandemic.
How did you experience that at the polling station?
At that time we got very strange.
We didn't have any masks or gloves.
A voter came very close to the ballot box, he was almost nose to nose with us helpers.
He was running out of sweat and coughing all the time.
When he was outside, we said: “He's guaranteed Corona.” Fortunately, all of the election workers from back then stayed healthy.
But this year we will wear a mask.
The SPD is flying high, the Union is in crisis.
Do you have a tip for the outcome of the election?
I don’t give any prognosis.
I've known the Wolfratshausen people's voting behavior for over four decades.
As a rule of thumb, things always turned out differently here than the forecasts said.
Forecasts are a bit for the cat.
My opinion.
(Interview: Stefan Sessler)
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