Berlin election result: the majority of the survey has clear favorites for the mayoralty

The SPD around Mayor Giffey becomes the second strongest force in Berlin.

The CDU now wants to conduct exploratory talks.

The news ticker.

• SPD after the election:

  The still governing mayor Giffey is in focus because of the bankruptcy in Berlin.

• Berlin election:

  The CDU wants to probe with the SPD and the Greens on Monday.

• All

  projections and results for the Berlin election

  can be found in this

  news ticker

  .

  All developments and current voices relating to the vote can be found in our election ticker.

+++ 10.45 p.m .:

According to a survey by the opinion research institute Forsa, which was commissioned

by

and

45 percent of those surveyed even spoke out in favor of a grand coalition of the CDU and SPD.

Only 33 percent called for red-red-green to continue in Berlin.

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Kai Wegner (left) and Franziska Giffey (right) before the Berlin election.

© Frederic Kern / Imago Images

When asked about their preferences as to who should become mayor in the capital, 39 percent voted in favor of Kai Wegner (CDU).

Franziska Giffey, former mayor of Berlin, received only 27 percent of the votes polled.

+++ 9:45 p.m .:

If it were up to the still incumbent mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD), the Berlin election on Sunday (February 12) would have turned out differently.

She makes no secret of her preference for a red-green-red coalition.

"I would say that there is already a clear trend for the continuation, but of course it is also taken very seriously that we have an election winner here that is clearly ahead of us," Giffey said on Monday evening (February 13) to the

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Franziska Giffey (SPD), Governing Mayor of Berlin, answers journalists' questions on the day after the Berlin election to the House of Representatives and after the presidium meeting of her party in the Willy-Brandt-Haus.

© Wolfgang Kumm/dpa

What is meant, of course, is the CDU, which received almost ten percent more votes.

Union top candidate Kai Wegner sees this as a “very clear government mandate” by the people of Berlin.

It is still unclear who should govern alongside the CDU in the capital.

Talks would be held with both the SPD and the Greens, said Wegner.

Before the repeat election, Wegner ruled out working with the Greens;

Even now there are more "intersections with the SPD," Wegner told

.

Berlin election: "Ms. Giffey has clearly been deselected" - ex-mayor speaks out in favor of the CDU

+++ 7.30 p.m .:

Regardless of the election victory of the CDU, there is currently a debate in Berlin about continuing the three-party coalition of SPD, Greens and Left.

Should it come to that, "it would be nothing more than voter fraud," said former district mayor Heinz Buschkowsky (SPD) in an interview with

.

According to the former mayor of Neukölln, the 28.2 percent of the votes for the Union should not be ignored.

The formation of a government must be based on the political feelings of the population.

"Ms. Giffey has clearly been voted out," Busckowsky said clearly in the interview.

He was long considered Giffey's patron and was replaced by her in 2015.

Berlin election: Left on the upswing, but also capable of forming a coalition with the CDU?

+++ 6.20 p.m .:

After a series of defeats in state elections, the left sees itself strengthened by its performance in the Berlin election.

That is why the party wants to use the repeat election as a "prelude to a successful election year," said party leader Janine Wissler on Monday in Berlin.

Wissler advised her party to remain united.

If a party goes into the election campaign united, puts content forward and “dares to polarize”, many people could be reached, according to the left leader.

In past state elections, the party failed at the five percent hurdle.

The left relies on a continuation of the previous state government with SPD and Greens.

Although the CDU won the election, the coalition of SPD, Greens and Left is more popular than a coalition of two led by the CDU, said top candidate Klaus Lederer.

For the left country leader Katina Schubert it is already clear: "The CDU will not explore with us, I can guarantee that." You go into the upcoming exploratory talks with "great self-confidence".

Berlin election: "No concrete indications" for recounting

+++ 5.30 p.m .:

According to the preliminary final result in the Berlin election, the SPD is only 105 votes ahead of the Greens.

Despite the small gap, there are hurdles to a possible recount.

"A narrow result alone does not justify a recount," said deputy state returning officer Roland Brumberg on Monday.

The district returning officers are now checking the election results again.

Although they could order a recount, according to Brumberg, this is only “legally restricted”.

There is such an order if there are concrete indications of an incorrect result or an incorrect count.

Because "you don't want the administration to count everything again at the end," says Brumberg.

In a second step, the results will then be presented to the state election committee on February 27th.

He could also order a recount of the votes if he "does not consider the district's submissions to be conclusive," said the deputy state returning officer.

At the moment, however, there are "no concrete indications" of such errors, emphasized Brumberg.

The election observers sent by the Council of Europe have also shown their satisfaction. 

Result of the Berlin election: Greens want to lead coalition

+++ 4:26 p.m .:

The Greens’ top candidate Bettina Jarasch confirmed a continuation of the government alliance with the SPD and the left before the start of the exploratory talks after the Berlin election.

At the same time, she called for a stronger role for her party.

In her opinion, that would be "the right coalition for Berlin," said Jarasch on Monday in Berlin after consultations with her party's federal leadership.

"We would like to continue the coalition with the SPD and the left."

The Greens politician indicated that she would also accept a leadership claim from the SPD.

According to the preliminary result, the SPD is only 105 votes ahead of the Greens.

The CDU had won the repeat election by a wide margin.

Accordingly, Jarasch will have “very serious talks” with the CDU.

"The fact is that the inner core of the capital was won by the Greens, the outer circle by the CDU," said the incumbent governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) in Berlin.

Nevertheless, it would not be good for the capital "if social issues disappeared from politics".

Berlin election: Lindner wants to reduce "irregular migration".

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After the defeat of the FDP in the Berlin election, party leader Christian Lindner wants to achieve the goals at the federal level more consistently.

"A policy against the car is obviously not in the interests of the people," said Lindner, referring to the election results on Monday in Berlin.

Therefore, the road must remain a "central mode of transport".

In addition, the election result shows that the citizens did not allow themselves to be talked out of their observation of unsuccessful integration.

"There is a very clear expectation to prevent irregular migration to Germany," said the FDP leader.

Therefore, the FDP wants to lower bureaucratic hurdles for integration into the labor market, but at the same time reduce the number of irregular migrants.

The responsibility for the failure of the party at the five percent hurdle does not lie with the top candidate Sebastian Czaja, emphasized Lindner.

Rather, the FDP could not benefit from the mood of change in the country.

Berlin election: Giffey excludes a joint mayoral office with the Greens

+++ 2:53 p.m .:

After the Berlin election, the exploratory talks are pending.

The incumbent governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) refuses to share the mayoral office with the Greens, said the SPD top candidate at a press conference with federal chairwoman Saskia Esken.

The SPD has the majority.

"We came out of this election campaign in second place." From this it must be deduced that the party "continues to have government responsibility." Giffey emphasized again that she would speak to both Wegner and the current coalition partners

Berlin election: CDU claims government

+++ 2.31 p.m .:

After the clear victory in the Berlin election, CDU leader Friedrich Merz sees a clear government mandate for his party.

The voters voted for a change, Merz said on Monday after deliberations by the party's top committees.

"The current Senate may still have an arithmetical majority in the House of Representatives, politically it gambled away the majority yesterday," said the party leader, referring to the red-green-red state government.

"The majority want change."

SPD top candidate Franziska Giffey, on the other hand, had the “backing from the Social Democrats at federal level to hold the necessary talks,” said the incumbent mayor at a press conference with federal chairwoman Saskia Esken.

It is nothing "unusual" that the SPD is now holding talks with all possible partners.

+++ 1:29 p.m .:

FDP top candidate Sebastian Czaja, who did not make it into the Berlin House of Representatives, thanked his voters on Twitter.

"It only remains for me to express my infinite gratitude.

Thank you to the voters who have placed their trust in us.

Thanks to my party and parliamentary group colleagues and also to our employees for your tireless commitment.

We Free Democrats stand together," he said in his tweet.

The FDP received only 4.7 percent.

Berlin election: Personnel Giffey in the discussion

+++ 12.15 p.m .:

As is known from Berlin circles, the Governing Mayor Giffey will have to answer for the result within the party.

The

The district chairwoman of the SPD center, Julia Plehnert, told the newspaper: "If you fall like that, it's not about whether you end up a tenth ahead of or behind the Greens." Plehnert belongs to the left wing of the SPD and therefore demands: " You then have to draw conclusions.”

State board member Kevin Hönicke also commented on Giffey to the

: "After two historically poor election results, no matter what alliance, there must be no 'keep it up'."

Preliminary final result for the Berlin election: 105 votes save Giffey - recounting considered

+++ 11.12 a.m .:

In view of the SPD’s narrow lead in the Berlin repeat election, the state returning officer is checking a recount.

"We will take a close look at the numbers again and discuss this with our lawyers," said election officer Stephan Bröchler on Monday of the German Press Agency.

According to the preliminary result, the SPD and the Greens both have 18.4 percent of the votes, but the SPD has a wafer-thin lead of 105 votes.

"It is indeed a very small distance," says Bröchler.

He assumes that the question of a recount will be decided this week.

After the Berlin election: The CDU wants to probe with the SPD and the Greens on Monday

+++ 10.33 a.m .:

 The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil considers the CDU election victory in Berlin to be a result of the high level of dissatisfaction in the capital.

"You have the resentment that there is undoubtedly in Berlin bundled in the election result of the CDU," he said on Monday in the ARD "Morgenmagazin".

However, the CDU has little of its own concepts.

"The question, what are they actually up to, where do they want to go, has not been answered."

+++ 9.46 a.m .:

After the CDU’s election victory in the repeat election in Berlin, top candidate Kai Wegner wants to invite SPD and Greens to exploratory talks this Monday evening.

The aim is to hold talks this week or early next week, Wegner told

on Monday .

"Now is not the time for tacticians, now is the time for doers."

"The government mandate is clearly ours," said Wegner.

Preliminary result for the Berlin election is available - 105 votes save Giffey

Update from February 13, 0:26 a.m .:

A preliminary final result for the Berlin election is available.

The clear winner is the CDU with 28.2 percent of the vote.

In second place, the SPD apparently intercepted the Greens in the last few meters - by 105 votes.

The result table of the state returning officer sees both parties at 18.4 percent.

According to official figures, the SPD received 278,978 votes, the Greens "only" 278,873 votes.

This means that Franziska Giffey still has a chance of retaining the office of governing mayor in a red-green-red alliance.

In view of the small distance, a second count is also conceivable.

With the provisional end result, the final is probably the end for the FDP parliamentary group in the House of Representatives.

The Liberals only get 4.6 percent of the votes - they miss the five percent hurdle comparatively well.

Berlin election: Greens see interim results wafer-thin ahead of the SPD

+++ 11:23 p.m .:

Berlin is still waiting for the last decisions of the House of Representatives election.

How close the race for second place is is made clear by ARD election expert Jörg Schönenborn in the “Tagesthemen”: With 15 voting districts still outstanding, according to him the Greens have 276,644 votes, the SPD has 275,900 votes.

Source: Extrapolations from infratest dimap (ARD) and the research group Wahlen (ZDF)

Berlin election: Still no decision between Greens and SPD

+++ 10:41 p.m .:

The race for second place in the Berlin election remains completely open.

In the next round of projections by ARD and ZDF, the Greens and SPD are again level.

Both broadcasters see both parties at 18.4 percent.

The latest ZDF data could also suffocate the FDP's last glimmer of hope.

The Liberals have dropped again by 0.1 percentage points to 4.6 percent.

Projections for the Berlin election: A few votes could decide

+++ 9:02 p.m .:

The numbers fluctuate, the result remains the same for the time being: SPD and Greens are tied for second place in the current projections for the Berlin election. The data experts from ARD and ZDF are unanimously coming to this conclusion at the moment.

In the meantime, infratest dimap and the research group elections estimate the two parties to have a similar overall level of votes;

currently at 18.4 and 18.5 percent respectively.

But there is probably nothing to shake about the clear election victory of the CDU, both broadcasters send the conservatives a clear lead with 28.0 percent.

The departure of the FDP from the Berlin House of Representatives is also becoming increasingly clear.

The election debacle for the Liberals could also have national political consequences.

If there is no unexpected turnaround, a few votes could decide the outcome of the race for second place - and thus also the signs for the formation of a coalition in Berlin, as

analyzes.

Projections for the Berlin election: All eyes are on the SPD, the Greens and second place

+++ 19:33:

Other current projections from ARD and ZDF do not solve the guesswork about the second strongest force after the Berlin election.

According to ARD data, the Greens and SPD are back in second place.

The ZDF sees the Greens wafer-thin in front.

A “GroKo” could be a conceivable option, especially for a third-placed SPD;

Giffey has always been strangers to red-green-red.

The Greens, on the other hand, were repeatedly on a confrontation course with the Conservatives of lead candidate Kai Wegner during the election campaign.

Berlin election: forecasts and projections possible on time today?

+++ 4.35 p.m .:

According to the current state of affairs, there should – as is usual – be the first forecasts for the Berlin election at 6 p.m.: There have apparently been no major glitches in the course of the election so far, and nothing seems to prevent the polling stations from closing at 6 p.m stand.

"We are very satisfied with what we saw," said Vladimir Prebilic, head of the delegation of the international election observers of the Council of Europe, in an initial assessment.

The first extrapolations usually follow around 6:30 p.m.

Follow all developments regarding the Berlin election 2023 in our live ticker.

Update from Sunday, February 12, 7.41 a.m .:

Today is the day: Berliners can vote again in the repeat election.

Polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Extrapolations and first results should be available around 6.30 p.m.

Follow everything in our live ticker for the Berlin election.

Berlin election: When will there be projections and results?

Preliminary report from Saturday, February 11th:

Berlin – Just one year in office, the Senate around the governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) has to put itself to the vote again.

Due to breakdowns in the election of the Berlin House of Representatives in 2021, the election will be repeated at the behest of the judge.

In the election on February 12, 2.4 million eligible voters can therefore again decide which parties will move in and how many seats they will get.

Franziska Giffey and her Senate are under pressure in the new Berlin election.

All three parties in the coalition of SPD, Greens and Left could

lose votes compared to 2021, according to a survey by the

However, the situation is not entirely clear: According to a

survey from February 10, 2023, the SPD could improve slightly.

According to surveys, however, the continuation of the alliance is still possible.

However, the CDU clearly wins and is the strongest force in all surveys before the re-election.

However, the FDP cannot benefit from the weakness of the Senate parties and may even have to fear that it will re-enter.

Overview of recent surveys

Due to the strength of the CDU, top candidate Kai Wegner could even replace Giffey as governing mayor.

According to current polls, the Union could enter into a grand coalition with the Social Democrats.

Participation of the FDP is also possible.

Another mathematical option is an alliance of CDU, FDP and Greens, but CDU leader Wegner had ruled out cooperation with the Greens.

Background are the demands of the Greens in the field of transport policy.

When are projections and results available?

The polling stations for the Berlin election on February 12 are also open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

As soon as voting is over, the poll workers start counting the votes.

At 6 p.m., ARD and ZDF also publish the first forecasts.

The first projections will be available from around 6.30 p.m.

The state returning officer announces the provisional official final result as soon as all votes have been counted.

The live ticker keeps you up to date.

This is usually the case in the late evening or at night.

List of rubrics: © Frederic Kern / Imago Images