The Berlin State Returning Officer Stephan Bröchler described the organization of the repeat election to the House of Representatives on February 12 as a “Herculean task”.
The period of 90 days for preparation is “very short”, otherwise you have a year to do it, said Bröchler on Monday at a special meeting of the interior committee. The task now is to ensure that the repeat elections function smoothly and that elections “become a celebration of democracy again”.
We are now well on our way to preparing. The registrations for the election workers are “very gratifying,” said Bröchler. With a lot of money, Berlin wants to avoid renewed breakdowns in this area this time. The announced payment of 240 euros for election workers is already having an effect, it said.
Many people had already registered for February 12, explained Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) in the special session. Many inquiries were received every day, not only from Berlin, but also from all over Germany.
According to Stephan Bröchler, 26,000 people have already applied to be helpers. Up to 43,000 poll workers are to be deployed. That would be significantly more than in the breakdown election in September 2021, although this time only the House of Representatives and the district assemblies and not the Bundestag should also be elected.
One of the twelve Berlin districts has already indicated that enough election workers have already reported. The tax-free 240 euros would certainly contribute to this, said the state returning officer. Previously there had been an expense allowance of 60 euros. Officials and employees of the state should even be given up to three days off as compensation for their work as election workers.
Earlier, during a lecture – which the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” reported on in its “Checkpoint” newsletter – he thought aloud about possibly allowing the OSCE and thus international election observers to come to Berlin this time. Berlin’s Constitutional Court ruled last week that the election to the House of Representatives must be repeated in its entirety.
“Berlin has always been badly governed,” says WELT columnist Henryk M. Broder. A problem in the capital: “There were the biggest flops for which nobody was responsible.” According to Broder, Franziska Giffey is “clearly overwhelmed”.
Source: WORLD
