Challenge of holding early elections – DW – 11/12/2024

The date of the early German elections became the subject of increasingly bitter political debate, involving the Federal Election Commission and even the head of the German paper industry association.

public chain ARD It was reported this Tuesday (12.11.2024) that the Social Democrats (SPD) in the government and the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) finally agreed to hold parliamentary elections on February 23, 2025. That means about seven months before the regular date.

according to ARDThe Liberals (FDP), whose coalition broke up due to disagreements with the Social Democrats, have also accepted the new date, with the Greens also part of the tripartite executive. It is expected that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will approve this decision.

The agreement ended several days of disputes over the logistical challenge posed by early federal elections, in which more than 60 million German citizens would be able to vote.

paper shortage

Chancellor Olaf Scholz initially proposed holding the elections in late March or early April, arguing that the government needed time to approve some of the legislation to be passed, and to give the competent authorities time to organize the elections properly. Needed.

Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ruth Brand suggested that the Christmas holidays and paper shortages could create problems. This led the CDU to accuse Scholz of pressuring Brand, who is a member of her SPD, to issue such a warning. Jens Spahn, a prominent CDU figure, said, “One gets the impression that there was political influence.”

Some regional officials have also warned against rushing the vote, particularly in Berlin, where the previous 2021 election had to be partially rerun due to irregularities at some polling stations.

Wilko Zicht, director of the non-profit organization Wahlrecht, estimates that officials will have to do four months’ work in just two. “Of course, if something is done in a hurry the number of errors increases,” he warned DW.

Problem for small parties

“This is not really a problem for the big parties, because they will have already started planning for the September elections,” says Zycht. “They may already be shortlisting their candidates, so it’s not a complete drama for them,” he explains.

According to Zycht, the matter will be more complicated for smaller political parties, which do not have the resources and personnel needed to quickly prepare lists of candidates. “Even after a candidate is found, they still have to gather enough signatures to be allowed on the ballot,” he explains.

Local officials, for their part, must find polling stations and election volunteers, and promptly print ballots, especially those used for voting by mail, which must be mailed well in advance of Election Day.

real danger

The issue of postal voting is urgent, especially for Germans living abroad, not only because Germany does not usually allow its citizens to vote in embassies.

“Voters should receive mail-in ballots at least three weeks before the election, to give them time to return them,” Zicht says, “but that doesn’t always work.” This time the problem is likely to become even more serious.

But all these practical issues are relatively minor compared to the problems that can arise, according to Zicht, when the organization of elections becomes part of the political debate, as has happened this week, and blamed on figures like Ruth Brand. Political influence goes.

“This is a problem,” warns Zicht. “To accuse the chairman of the electoral commission of bias seems very problematic to me. If the freedom of electoral organization is illegal, then our democracy is being attacked. Four years ago we saw in the United States that when people So what happens is we start questioning the elections, we certainly don’t want to import that.”

(ERS/RML)