After the election chaos in Berlin: the resignation of the election officer is due – Berlin
She had seen nothing, heard nothing: State Returning Officer Petra Michaelis could not help clarify anything at first. She spoke of “alleged mistakes” in the election on Sunday and said that one now has to “analyze first”.
But it has long been clear: people were sent home to polling stations and could not vote, ballot papers were lying in the wrong electoral districts, voters: inside cast their votes well after 6 p.m.
Michaelis assumes that these people also voted “uninfluenced”. A communicative oath of disclosure. The super election alone cannot be an excuse for the mistakes: State and federal elections were also held in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Without chaos.
That speaks for serious planning errors. But nobody will be responsible, as is so often the case in Berlin.
On Tuesday, Christian Gaebler (SPD), head of the Senate Chancellery, should also explain why the mistakes are not that bad. With such a super election with thousands of polling stations, things would go wrong. It’s not that wild.
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And, of course, the Senate bears no responsibility for the mistakes. Man is just a “spectator”. The latter is not formally wrong: the regional returning officer works independently and on a voluntary basis. The internal administration of Andreas Geisel (SPD) only leads the legal supervision, also checks whether the action is legal – not how well or badly someone is doing their job.
It was appointed by the Senate in 2009
Petra Michaelis doesn’t work in a vacuum – even if politicians (understandably) would like to present it that way. She was appointed as election supervisor by the Senate, according to the state election regulations. And already in 2009, at the suggestion of the interior administration.
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The list of election failures in Berlin since then has been impressive: in 2011, parliamentary seats were revoked again due to incorrect counting. In 2016 there were problems with the software before the election of parliamentarians, not even the printout of the electoral roll initially worked. In 2017, the software went on strike again in the federal election. The system only ran again during the night. Germany is waiting for Berlin.
And then the marathon!
Michaelis can still not be recalled, her appointment is unlimited. This should guarantee independence. And yet the Senate shares responsibility. In addition to the super election, those responsible nodded to a marathon taking place at the same time. Was that thoughtlessness or will-go-wrong mentality? The run was certainly not the main problem, but it does ensure that, for example, the supply of ballot papers does not get through to the polling stations in time.
If people cannot vote when they want to, when false ballots are on the table, it is not just a small mistake. Then this election ran irregularly in parts. The State Returning Officer should therefore resign from her honorary position after the allegations have been clarified – and prevent damage to the function. The Senate should responsibly resubmit the important office.