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These votes arrived on time: election letters in the postal voting point in Rostock in mid-September
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / dpa
A breakdown in a Deutsche Post distribution center in Hamburg-Altona has resulted in 352 postal votes not being counted in the Bundestag, Landtag and mayoral elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
These votes have been lost, said the state returning officer of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Gudrun Beneicke.
The dispatch of two post boxes had been missed.
As a result, they arrived too late at the regional election control.
On request, Deutsche Post announced: “As soon as we became aware of the incident, we informed the regional returning officers and the federal returning officer about it.
We very much regret the transport delay, but would like to emphasize that this was an exceptional case. "
According to the state election officer, 168 election letters were intended for the federal election in the northeast, 163 for the state election and 21 for the mayoral election in Bolzenburg, a small town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The letters will not be opened now - this is common if postal voting documents arrive too late.
From Beneicke's point of view, the fault lies with Deutsche Post, which is why it does not consider an election contestation to be promising.
In principle, anyone entitled to vote can contest the election, for this one has 14 days in the state election and 2 months in the federal election.
There is also an election challenge in Berlin.
There, the "Super Election Day" had led to chaos, long waiting times and missing ballots in some places, and the marathon held on Sunday made the situation even more complicated.
The state returning officer wants to investigate the allegations.
feb / dpa
