Berlin: State Returning Officer Petra Michaelis on election chaos

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Berlin State Returning Officer Petra Michaelis: "It was incomprehensible to me that the ballot papers had run out in some polling stations."

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Jörg Carstensen / dpa

There was chaos in some of Berlin's polling stations on Sunday.

Ballot papers were missing or were obviously put together incorrectly.

Long lines formed in front of the doors.

And even at 7 p.m., some citizens were still waiting to cast their votes while the first projections were already running on television.

Petra Michaelis, the Berlin State Returning Officer, answered journalists' questions the morning after the disaster.

However, she still owed many answers.

Everything was well prepared, she said at a press conference in the Red City Hall.

"Of course we also made sure that enough ballot papers were obtained." In fact, there were ballots for 110 to 120 percent of those eligible to vote.

But where were these ballots when they were needed?

She couldn't explain that either, said Michaelis.

"It was incomprehensible to me that the ballot papers probably ran out in some polling stations." The task now is to take stock of the possible relevant voting errors.

"Surely this will have to be looked into very seriously if voters couldn't vote."

Four instead of five ballot papers, or the papers from the wrong district

In addition to supply problems, the regional returning officer also reported possible errors in the distribution of the ballot papers, which were followed up.

In Berlin, in addition to the Bundestag, the House of Representatives and several district parliaments were newly elected on Sunday.

In addition, the voters could vote in a referendum on whether large housing groups should be expropriated.

According to reports, only four instead of five necessary ballot papers were given out, Michaelis explained at the press conference. In addition, there are complaints about polling stations in which ballot papers from the wrong constituency were issued. She couldn't explain that either, said Michaelis. However, you still have to verify the reports in discussions with the district and district election officers. "I am deliberately expressing myself very vaguely." Since the votes were counted during the night, there had been no time to speak to the electoral workers and the polling officers.

However, those responsible did not deny that mistakes had occurred.

Rather, the question is in how many polling stations there have been mistakes.

A lot of complaints were received by email at the state election office, it said at the press conference.

An initial evaluation showed, however, that many complaints concentrate on the same polling stations.

Those responsible named Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Pankow and Friedrichshain as the affected districts.

Supply of voting papers by bike

The fact that some polling stations did not receive a replenishment of ballot papers was probably also due to the Berlin Marathon. It was the plan of many districts to first supply the polling stations with a basic set of ballot papers and to deliver them later during the day if necessary, explained Michaelis. However, election officials reported that there was no car getting through due to blocked roads. For this reason, individual helpers in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf had to go by bike to get voting papers (read more here).

The regional returning officer also saw a problem with the voters themselves: They were asked to familiarize themselves with the five ballot papers in order to speed up the length of stay at the polling station, she said with a view to the waiting times. This request was certainly heard by many, but it also reached its limits. "In some cases it happened that a voting booth was used for a relatively long time," said Michaelis. Sometimes there were creative solutions to set up additional voting booths - at least if the Corona distance rules allowed it.

Michaelis said almost at the end of the event that she knew that there had never been such a super election day in the history of the city.

"But I thought that we are so well prepared that we can handle this together." Now she has to face possible challenges of the choice.

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