Berlin Chaos Election live: First extrapolation here! Greens shock Giffey-SPD - but many votes are invalid

The Berlin election is coming up.

The SPD wants to defend the mayor's office with ex-minister Franziska Giffey.

There were breakdowns in restaurants.

All information in the news ticker.

• On September 26th, in addition to the Bundestag election *, there will also be a Berlin election in Germany.

  In the capital, red-red-green ruled under Michael Müller (SPD), party colleague Franziska Giffey would like to inherit him.

• The fire brigade has to arrive in the Mitte district

  (see update from 11.25 a.m.)

  .

  There is a breakdown in several polling stations

  (see update from 1:16 p.m.)

  .

  Partly ballot papers are missing

  (see update from 3 p.m.)

  .

• According to initial projections, the SPD * and the Greens * are in a head-to-head race for the election victory.

  (see update from 8:20 p.m.)

• This news ticker for the Berlin election 2021 is updated regularly.

Update from September 26, 9:30 p.m

.: The organizers of the Berlin Marathon have rejected any responsibility for the mishaps in the election to the House of Representatives. "As the organizer of the BMW Berlin Marathon, we kept all our commitments to the institutions," said Jürgen Lock, managing director of SCC EVENT, in a press release. As in 2017, since the beginning of the year there has been close coordination with those responsible from the state election management to the district level. “Today, all the line closures were gradually lifted in good time and additional crossing options for emergency deliveries to polling stations were created”.

Update from September 26, 9:23 p.m

.: SPD top candidate Franziska Giffey does not rule out a two-party coalition after the parliamentary elections in Berlin. “When we have the election result and we know who is ahead, then we can talk about which coalitions are possible. It is of course like this: the more partners agree, the more difficult things are, ”said Giffey of the

dpa

. But it is not yet possible to say what the government contract will look like, she said, referring to the figures in the first projections, which indicate a head-to-head race between the SPD and the Greens.

Berlin's Greens parliamentary group leader Antje Kapek said whether a two-party coalition is better than a three-party coalition depends at the end of the day on whether there is a stable majority for it or a shaky one.

"But we have never made a secret of the fact that we would like to continue the work in the red-red-green coalition under green leadership," said Kapek to the

dpa

.

Election results: the numbers at a glance

Forecast / extrapolation	time	CDU	SPD	Green	FDP	AfD	left	other
Infratest Dimap / ARD	20:00	15.4%	22.3%	22.9%	7.6%	6.8%	13.6%	11.4%
Research group elections / ZDF	20:13	16.7%	22.8%	22.2%	7.7%	6.6%	14.1%	9.9%

Update from September 26, 9:04 p.m

.: The clear loser in the Berlin election is the AfD *.

The party with top candidate Kristin Brinker has to give up a lot and halved to six and a half to seven percent.

The AfD moved into the House of Representatives for the first time in the last election, achieved a double-digit result from scratch and won four constituencies directly.

Update from September 26, 8:20 p.m

.: According to the first projections, there is no clear winner in the House of Representatives election in Berlin.

The Greens reached 22.9 percent, the SPD was in the numbers of the RBB at 22.3 percent, as the broadcaster reported in the evening.

It would therefore not be enough for a two-party alliance between the SPD and the Greens, only three-party alliances would be possible.

In the first ZDF extrapolation, the SPD with 22.8 percent is just ahead of the Greens with 22.2 percent.

That should keep it exciting.

Berlin election 2021: voters are still waiting in line

Update from September 26, 7:39 p.m.:

Voters

who queued in

front of the polling stations at 6 p.m. are still allowed to cast their votes.

But at 7 p.m. there were still many eligible voters waiting to be able to make their crosses.

“There are still at least 100 people here.

At other polling stations it's exactly the same, I hear from colleagues, "said the manager of a polling station in Pankow, according to

ntv

.

One reason for the delay is that the pub ran out of ballot papers for the federal election in the afternoon and had to be delivered again.

Another reason for the delay is therefore that people are in the voting booths longer than usual because they are looking at the various ballot papers.

In addition, there are the necessary hygiene measures due to the corona and that many election workers have jumped out who had to be replaced by successors. 

Update from September 26th, 7.15 p.m.:

CDU top candidate Kai Wegner said in a first reaction to the prognoses that they had stood “to replace this Senate and that remains our goal”.

But he also admitted that he had hoped for more.

“One thing then also belongs to the truth.

The wind turned quite a bit, ”said Wegner.

He lamented a lack of tailwind from the federal government.

Update from September 26, 6:57 p.m.:

The Green top candidate in Berlin, Bettina Jarasch, was enthusiastic about the prognoses after the election to the House of Representatives.

“Berlin has voted and it's great,” said Jarasch in a first reaction on Sunday evening.

There are still only forecasts, but "the forecasts are unbelievable".

The Greens would have caught up without equal.

"I am completely overwhelmed."

+

Bettina Jarasch, the top candidate of the Berlin Greens for the House of Representatives election, can look forward to the election result

© Kay Nietfeld / dpa / picture aliance

SPD top candidate in Berlin Franziska Giffey is optimistic.

"We are at a point where everything can come out," said the SPD state chairman on Sunday in front of party supporters in Berlin.

With Raed Saleh she has and wants to continue to fight for social democratic values, said Giffey at the side of her co-chair. 

Berlin election 2021: Initial forecasts suggest a duel between the SPD and the Greens

Update from September 26, 6:04 p.m.:

The polling stations are closed, the first forecasts for the House of Representatives election in Berlin have been made.

A neck-and-neck race between the SPD and the Greens is emerging.

According to ARD, the Greens come with their top candidate Bettina Jarasch to 23.5 percent.

The SPD with Franziska Giffey stands at 21.5 percent.

The CDU of top candidate Kai Wegner comes to 15.0 percent.

The left comes to 14.5 percent.

The FDP and AfD are almost on par with 7.5 and 7.0 percent, respectively.

The ZDF, on the other hand, sees the SPD in the lead with 23.0 percent.

The Greens are just behind with 22 percent.

The CDU is the third strongest force with 17.0 percent.

Over the past few years, Berlin has been ruled by a red-red-green alliance led by the SPD. According to the forecasts, a continuation of this coalition would be theoretically possible. Recently, however, Giffey had not made a clear commitment and left the question of the coalition open. Governing Mayor Michael Müller did not run for the House of Representatives again on Sunday, he wanted to move into the Bundestag as the top candidate of the Berlin SPD.

Update from September 26th, 5pm:

The polling stations will not close at 6pm.

The last voter who stands in line at the polling station at 6 p.m. counts.

He or she can still vote.

This is mandatory, said the spokesman for the state election control, Geert Baasen, the

Tagesspiegel

.

However, anyone who queues after 6 p.m. is no longer allowed to vote.

Update from September 26th, 4:40 p.m.: Voting is

not only

taking place

in Berlin today.

Of course, the main focus is on the federal election.

You can read all information, results and developments in our live ticker for the 2021 federal election tonight.

Berlin election 2021: Long queues in front of the polling stations

Update from September 26th, 4.30 p.m.: In

front of many of the 2,257 Berlin polling stations, eligible voters have to wait a long time, although the number of postal voters is expected to be high.

One reason for this is that the ballot papers have run out in some polling stations and replenishment has been delayed because of the Berlin marathon.

That doesn't leave a good impression.

Seriously: How can Berlin answer for people who wanted to vote to go home again because they don't feel like waiting for hours for the missing ballot papers?

In terms of voter turnout, these mishaps are really a meltdown.

- Ann-Kathrin Hipp (@ak_hipp) September 26, 2021

The federal returning officer replied to questions about this on Twitter: The state returning officer had announced that there were no second ballots for the election to the House of Representatives in polling stations in Berlin.

As it turned out on election day, polling stations had received second ballots from another district.

The general election is not affected by this.

Update from September 26, 3:40 p.m.:

The district office in Mitte apparently fears time problems for some voters.

It spread an appeal on Twitter.

"Please note: For polling station 100, 48th elementary school in Boyenstrasse, the waiting time is currently over 2 hours.

Please make your way to the polling station as soon as possible & plan a longer waiting time.

Thanks very much!"

Update from September 26, 3:31 p.m.:

The outgoing Governing Mayor Michael Müller also had to wait patiently.

The SPD politician, who says goodbye to federal politics and runs for the Bundestag, queued on Sunday afternoon at the polling station in Dudenstrasse in Berlin's Kreuzberg district.

After almost half an hour, Müller was able to cast his vote.

Berlin election 2021: chaos after mega mishaps!

In many places the ballot papers are running out

Update from September 26th, 3 p.m.:

The series of breakdowns in Berlin polling stations does not stop.

According to a report by the

Tagesspiegel

have run out of ballots in the Wilmersdorf district in the polling station in the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Library. Therefore around 100 people have to hold out until supplies are delivered. According to the newspaper, an election worker tried to take a taxi to the town hall to get new ballots. However, the woman was unable to order a vehicle; the taxi companies may be fully booked due to the marathon taking place parallel to the elections. In the neighboring polling station at Sigmaringerstaße 1, which is also in the Wilmersdorf district, the ballot papers have probably also run out. Here, too, because of the marathon event, it is not certain whether replenishment will arrive on time.

There are no ballots in our polling station because they were first swapped and now the courier who is supposed to bring the correct ones is stuck in a traffic jam because of the marathon.

Berlin at its best # btw21

- Verena Mayer (@ve_mayer) September 26, 2021

Update from September 26, 2:50 p.m.:

To vote at the polling station, you should bring your ID.

But what if this has expired?

Not a problem in Berlin, reports several media outlets.

Personal information such as a photo and address are sufficient to identify a voter, writes the

RBB

, for example

.

And there is also a background: For weeks it has been difficult in the capital to get appointments at citizen offices.

Because of the corona pandemic and personnel problems, thousands of appointments were jammed.

Accordingly, it could have been difficult for some to present a valid ID.

Berlin election 2021: First numbers on voter turnout

Update from September 26th, 1:57 p.m.:

Berlin state

returning officer

has published initial findings about voter turnout in the capital.

By 12 noon, 27.4 percent of all eligible voters had cast their vote.

In comparison to the 2017 Bundestag election, voter turnout remained almost the same.

Four years ago, at this time of day, 27.2 percent had already voted.

Long queues are still forming in front of the 2257 polling stations in Berlin.

Berlin election 2021: Mega mishap in polling stations - votes declared invalid

Update from September 26th, 1:16 p.m.:

Breakdown in several Berlin polling stations: Due to mixed up ballot papers, delays occurred in the districts of Friedrichshain / Kreuzberg and Charlottenburg / Wilmersdorf.

Some votes had to be declared invalid because citizens voted on the wrong ballot.

According to the electoral teams concerned, polling stations 404, 407 and 408, which are located in the Spartacus Elementary School in Friedrichshain, only had ballot papers for the Charlottenburg / Wilmersdorf district.

This had consequences, the polling stations had to close until the ballot papers for Friedrichshain / Kreuzberg were delivered.

The election was then continued there with delays. 

Update from September 26, 12.49 p.m.:

The queues in front of many Berlin polling stations are

getting

longer.

Some voters are already afraid of their voting.

“What happens if there are still a lot of people in front of the election offices at 6 p.m. who have not yet been able to get in?

GS Rüdesheimer Str. The school yard is full, waiting time approx. Two hours, only two cubicles.

Unbelievable, "wrote a Twitter user about her experience on election Sunday.

But the fear is unfounded: According to the federal electoral code, all voters who queued before 6 p.m. can still vote after 6 p.m.

In addition, there is still several hours before the polling stations close, but experience shows that the rush will weaken again by then.

Berlin election 2021: polling station in the Mitte district must call the fire brigade

Update from September 26, 11.25 a.m.:

To a fire service

it came to two polling stations in Berlin.

The electronic locking system went on strike, so the electoral officers could not open the building of the North cafeteria of the Studierendenwerk in time.

The polling stations 102 and 106 of the Mitte district are located there.

"We had to call the fire brigade who could open the building with the emergency key," said election officer Alexander Radebach to the

German press agency

.

After all, the polling stations were late to open; according to Radebach, all the waiting voters could cast their votes.

+

The fire brigade had to move to a Berlin polling station.

© Sebastian Gollnow / dpa

Update from September 26, 11:01 a.m.:

During the Berlin election, some polling stations apparently had minor problems.

The office of the regional returning officer told the

Tagesspiegel

that due to the cancellation of several election workers, replacements had to be organized at short notice.

In some places queues formed in front of the polling stations.

This could also be due to the corona measures and the extensive election process with a total of four ballot papers.

According to the Berlin state election authority, there have never been more votes in a single day in the city.

Berlin election 2021: Election day and marathon ensure a large-scale operation in the capital for the police

Update from September 26, 9.43 a.m.:

Election day brings a lot of work for the Berlin police.

A total of 1750 police officers are on duty to ensure that the federal and Berlin elections run safely and smoothly in the capital.

The Berlin Marathon is also taking place today.

Update from September 26th, 8.22 a.m.:

The polling stations in Berlin have been open for a few minutes.

All eligible voters can cast their votes until 6 p.m.

Berlin election 2021: will the SPD remain the strongest force?

Green ranked second in polls

First report from September 26, 7:31 a.m .:

Berlin - On September 26, not only a new Bundestag will be elected in Berlin. Around 2.5 million Berliners are called upon to cast their vote * for the state parliament there - what is called the House of Representatives there *. The capital is getting a new ruling mayor. Because the incumbent Prime Minister Michael Müller (SPD) is no longer running. The former Federal Minister Franziska Giffey could become his successor.

Müller runs for the Bundestag and is therefore out of office as a candidate for the mayor's office. Franziska Giffey should now ensure that the SPD * retains power in the Senate. To do this, the Social Democrats are counting on a top candidate known to the population, but not undisputed. Giffey had given up her position as Federal Family Minister in spring 2021 because of allegations of plagiarism related to her dissertation.

Despite this background noise, the SPD is ahead in the polls for the Berlin election and appears to be able to improve its 2016 result (21.55 percent).

In the meantime, the Greens * had also registered ambitions for the seat of government.

In the polls shortly before the election *, the party ranked between 18 and 20 percent, slightly better than at the federal level.

Bettina Jarasch is the top candidate for the Greens.

The native of Augsburg, who came to Berlin to study, has been in the House of Representatives since 2016 and was previously the state chairman of her party for five years.

Berlin election 2021: CDU wants to get out of the opposition - “Germany coalition” with SPD and FDP?

The CDU * sends Kai Wegner into the race and is fighting to replace the existing red-red-green government.

The 49-year-old insurance salesman has been a member of the Bundestag and building policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group since 2005.

He was generally open to a black-green coalition, but also skeptical - so he called the Berlin Greens a “second left-wing party with a green coat of paint”.

Wegner would prefer a coalition with the SPD and FDP.

In the polls before the election, however, the Christian Democrats were only in third place.

The last mayors in Berlin

since 2014: Michael Müller (SPD)

2001 to 2014: Klaus Wowereit (SPD)

1991 to 2001: Eberhard Diepgen (CDU)

Berlin election 2021: FDP wants “Germany coalition”, left continuation of R2G

The FDP is with the polling institutes before the election under their survey results at the federal level *. The currently smallest parliamentary group in the House of Representatives is going to the Berlin election with top candidate Sebastian Czaja. The FDP also favors a German coalition with the CDU and SPD - which the Left Party wants to prevent.

The left wants to continue to govern with the SPD and the Greens and relies on Klaus Lederer, one of Berlin's most popular politicians.

The 47-year-old has been a Senator for Culture since 2016 and is therefore the only one of the top candidates to be an active member of the current state government.

Because no party wants to form a coalition with the AfD, the party around top candidate Kristin Brinker will remain in the opposition.

Current surveys see the AfD in the penultimate place.

On election day, we will keep you up to date on all important developments relating to the Berlin election in this ticker.

Our result text for the Berlin election also provides constantly updated figures.

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