Berlin holds court-ordered rerun of chaotic state election

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s capital city, Berlin, is holding a court-ordered rerun of a chaotic 2021 state election that was marred by severe glitches at many polling stations. There were long lines as some polling places ran out of ballot papers or received ones for the wrong district. The constitutional court of Berlin, one of three German cities that is also a state in its own right, declared the original vote invalid in November. It said in a statement that a partial rerun wouldn’t be enough “in view of the large number and severity of the election errors.” Polling places are set to close at 6 p.m. local time (1700GMT), with first exit polls to be published shortly after that.