Germany to rerun part of 2021 election due to glitches

BERLIN: Germany's 2021 national election will rerun in parts of Berlin due to electoral glitches, the country's Federal Returning Officer Georg Thiel said and welcomed the decision by the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament.

"This is the right decision to ensure the public's trust in the proper conduct of the elections," Thiel said, noting the considerable number and the seriousness of election errors, Xinhua news agency reported.

These errors may have had an effect on the distribution of seats in the Bundestag, according to Thiel.

During last year's federal election in September, many polling stations in Berlin experienced long queues and waiting times, as well as incorrect or missing ballots.

Some polling stations were even temporarily closed.

Citizens are to cast their votes again in a total of 431 constituencies in the capital.

The vote will take place at the beginning of 2023 at the earliest, as long as no complaint is filed with the Federal Constitutional Court within two months.

Thiel called for further clarification of the election errors.

"We need legal certainty as to when there is an election error and whether that error has consequences for mandates."