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Berlin must partially repeat federal election, top German court rules

After the disastrous elections in Berlin in 2021, Germany's top court has ruled on the number of districts in the capital that will have to repeat the vote for the Bundestag.

Published: 19 December 2023 10:59 CET
Voters queue in Berlin during the election chaos in 2021.
Voters queue in Berlin during the election chaos in 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Hauke-Christian Dittrich

A dispute has been ongoing between the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) and Germany’s ‘traffic-light’ coalition government, made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP), on how many districts in Berlin will have to take part in a repeat vote for the federal elections of 2021. 

And on Tuesday, Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled that 455 districts in the German capital will have to invite voters to the polls again after chaos on election day more than two years ago.

This is 31 districts more than agreed upon by the Bundestag last year, but far fewer than the 1,200 that the CDU argued for.

The original vote, which took place in September 2021, saw widespread problems, mostly caused by the Berlin marathon taking place on the same day.

Some voters were queuing for hours, and some polling stations ran out of ballot papers.

With this ruling the Constitutional Court said it wanted to set standards for the future by clarifying how to deal with missing ballot papers or voting after 6pm in case of problems.

Berlin sees yet another repeat election

This news may sound familiar to Local readers. For those wondering if it’s “Deja-vu all over again” and “didn’t Berlin do this already?”, you’d be correct. Berlin repeated its state election at the start of this year, leading to a CDU-led government in the city state and the end of the Red-Red-Green left wing coalition, made up of the Social Democrats, the Left party and the Greens. 

READ ALSO: How Berlin is getting its first conservative-led government in decades

But the latest ruling only deals with the federal election and so will not impact the makeup of Berlin’s Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives).

It could, however, impact the makeup of the German parliament (Bundestag) at a time when tensions in the governing coalition are higher than ever, with the neoliberal Free Democrats even holding a survey of its members on whether to leave government.

The new vote will have to be held by February 11th 2024. 

PODCAST: Has a decade of the AfD changed Germany, and why is Berlin repeating elections?

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BERLIN

Tesla’s factory near Berlin gets approval for extension despite protests

Tesla has confirmed its plans to extend its production site outside Berlin had been approved, overcoming opposition from residents and environmental activists.

Published: 17 May 2024 08:54 CEST
Tesla's factory near Berlin gets approval for extension despite protests

The US electric car manufacturer said on Thursday it was “extremely pleased” that local officials in the town of Grünheide, where the factory is located, had voted to approve the extension.

Tesla opened the plant – its only production location in Europe – in 2022 at the end of a tumultuous two-year approval and construction process.

The carmaker had to clear a series of administrative and legal hurdles before production could begin at the site, including complaints from locals about the site’s environmental impact.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

Plans to double capacity to produce a million cars a year at the site, which employs some 12,000 people, were announced in 2023.

The plant, which already occupies around 300 hectares (740 acres), was set to be expanded by a further 170 hectares.

But Tesla had to scale back its ambitions to grow the already massive site after locals opposed the plan in a non-binding poll.

The entrance to the Tesla factory in Brandenburg.

The entrance to the Tesla factory in Brandenburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Lutz Deckwerth

Their concerns included deforestation required for the expansion, the plant’s high water consumption, and an increase in road traffic in the area.

In the new proposal, Tesla has scrapped plans for logistics and storage centres and on-site employee facilities, while leaving more of the surrounding forest standing.

Thursday’s council vote in Grünheide drew strong interest from residents and was picketed by protestors opposing the extension, according to German media.

Protests against the plant have increased since February, and in March the plant was forced to halt production following a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines claimed by a far-left group.

Activists have also built makeshift treehouses in the woodland around the factory to block the expansion, and environmentalists gathered earlier this month in their hundreds at the factory to protest the enlargement plans.

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