Pressure errors ensure chaos: 220,000 ballot papers in Lake Constance away!

Pressure errors ensure chaos: 220,000 ballot papers in Lake Constance away!

in the constituency of Lake Constance, which extends in Baden-Württemberg, there was a serious breakdown when printing the ballot papers for the upcoming elections. As the Lake Constance district office confirmed, all 220,000 ballots had to be destroyed after several serious errors were found. The error that is due to human failure resulted from the fact that the printing company had used a not released preliminary version of the ballot papers. In the faulty file, the professions of the candidates were sometimes put in quotation marks, while some names were printed fat. These deviations resulted in consideration of the nullity of the choice, since the state election management found that the errors could potentially influence voters, which would have made the election results contestable. This was reported by the SWR

The error was shown on February 4 in the Lake Constance district's local and examination office. After the irregularities were noticed, in consultation with the national election line, the decision was made not to use the faulty ballot paper. The print shop was immediately contacted and the delivery of the ballot papers was stopped. A reprint of the correct ballot papers started immediately, and the new ballot papers have already been printed and delivered, so that no delays in the shipping of the postal voting documents are expected. These should be sent from February 10th.

financial responsibility and quick reaction

The costs for the reprint of the ballot papers and their renewed distribution amount to around 15,000 euros, which the printing works have to be borne. Fortunately, the error was noticed in good time, so that the preparations for election were not further affected. In addition to the Bodensee constituency, the constituencies of Ravensburg and Biberach are also affected by this problem, but without abnormalities in the delivery of their ballot papers.

The Bundesag constituency Bodensee, also known as constituency 293, was reorganized for the 2009 Bundestag election. It comprises 23 cities and municipalities of the Lake Constance district as well as the municipalities of Wald, Illmensee and Herdwangen-Schönach from the district of Sigmaringen. In the last federal election in 2021, the turnout was 79.0%, and Volker Mayer-Lay was elected as a member of the constituency of the CDU, which received 30.4% of the first votes. However, thanks to the quick response to the printing errors, those responsible can ensure that voters in this constituency have the opportunity to give their votes properly.

The effects of the pressure breakdown are therefore limited, and the eligible voters can trust that the new ballot papers are correct and can be used in the legal form to ensure the democratic choice. Those responsible in the Lake Constance group can thus guarantee a smooth running of the election, while at the same time they carefully check how such errors can be avoided in the future.