Postal voting in Berlin: Deadlines and application options for the election on September 20th

Postal voting is still possible in the week before election day in Berlin on September 20th, but time could be tight. This applies in any case to those who have not yet applied for postal voting documents with the ballot paper.

There is no Berlin-wide central office for this. The districts are responsible - the respective district election office issues the postal voting documents. The addresses can be found on the homepage of the state returning officer and on the websites of the district offices.

Applications can be submitted, for example, by post, online via the state returning officer's website, by email or in person at a district postal voting office. There is also a postal voting application on the back of the election notification - the postal voting documents can be applied for using a QR code. The online and QR code versions are only possible until Tuesday (September 15th).

According to the state election office, it is crucial in all cases that the postal voting documents arrive at the responsible district election office by 6 p.m. on election Sunday at the latest. If they arrive later, they will not be taken into account in the count.

Postal voters receive a voting slip plus a ballot paper

According to the state election authority, the documents include a voting slip and the official ballot papers, a white ballot envelope, a red ballot envelope and an information sheet for postal voting. The district council assemblies are also elected parallel to the House of Representatives - there is a separate ballot paper for both elections. The general rule is: “Please plan at least three working days to return the postal voting documents,” is the recommendation of the state election office.

It also advises: If you want to apply for postal voting documents at short notice, you should go to a postal voting office that is open until Friday (September 18th) at 3 p.m. The postal voting documents can be picked up there. Eligible voters can also fill it out there directly and cast their vote this way.

“If a person entitled to vote insists on sending it by post shortly before election day, the responsible electoral office will comply with this,” says state returning officer Stephan Bröchler. “The risk of the shipping route is generally borne by the person entitled to vote. That’s why I advise you to take action in good time when applying for postal voting documents.”

The proportion of postal voters has increased

The proportion of postal voters has increased significantly overall over the past ten years. According to state returning officer Bröchler, it was 44.5 percent in the 2023 House of Representatives election. He assumes that a value of around 45 percent is realistic this time too. Bröchler himself is a committed voter and always casts his vote at the polling station.

According to the state election office, 765,978 voting slips have been issued so far (as of Thursday) that allow postal voting. That's a share of 27.9 percent. At the corresponding time in the 2023 House of Representatives election there were 723,275 (26.4 percent).

Around 2.5 million Berliners will be able to cast their votes in the election to the House of Representatives on September 20th. In the election for the district council assemblies there are around 2.75 million because EU citizens without German citizenship are also allowed to cast their votes.