Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin | Live blog: Left in Berlin at the forefront

The top left-wing personnel celebrate the result of the House of Representatives election. Photo: dpa/Sebastian Gollnow 7:45 p.m.: IG Metall in Berlin for a rapid formation of a governmentAfter the House of Representatives election in Berlin, IG Metall is calling for a rapid formation of a government. “A rapid government formation must now be a priority for state politics in order to ensure the basic needs of the people in the capital,” said Jan Otto, district head of the industrial union in Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony. »It is essential to strengthen good work in industry and other sectors, especially through an active industrial policy and the promotion of collective bargaining and co-determination.«

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also hoping that a new Senate will come together quickly. “We therefore call on everyone involved to begin exploratory discussions quickly,” said IHK President Sebastian Stietzel. »No matter which election promises are to be implemented in the end, the prerequisite for this is a strong and growing economy. Investment security and more entrepreneurial freedom should therefore be at the center of the coalition negotiations.«

7.40 p.m.: Further towards insignificance In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, too, the FDP has been thrown out of the state parliament and is thus continuing its path towards political insignificance. FDP state leader René Domke immediately drew conclusions and declared that he would not run for party office again. He is no longer available, said Domke. "I take personal responsibility." With the departure in the northeast, the FDP is now only represented in four of 16 state parliaments.

7.20 p.m.: Spranger expects red-red-green in BerlinAfter the good result for the Left in Berlin, SPD Interior Senator Iris Spranger expects a coalition of the Left, the Greens and her party. »Whoever is at the top is invited. And then we have to see how the coalition negotiations go,” said Spranger. The Greens' priority is also clearly in favor of the Left. The SPD will also hold corresponding discussions.

Spranger, like Economics Senator Franziska Giffey, emphasized that there was clear resistance from the SPD to the expropriations of housing companies desired by the left. »If the Left now continues to demand expropriation, then the SPD will of course also have a red line. I hope that what was said before is also the red line." It is also clear: without the SPD there would be no coalition with a majority.

7.05 p.m.: Prime Minister Schwesig: "I'm ready" Left-wing top candidate Simone Oldenburg sees the SPD as the first in line when it comes to forming a government in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - and they want to continue to govern. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig said the majority had chosen democratic parties. “That’s why I’m ready to continue the work,” says Schwesig.

6.55 p.m.: Berlin's BSW top candidate King is confidentBerlin's BSW top candidate Alexander King has appeared optimistic despite the outcome of the House of Representatives election being still open. "In some cases, yes, we were declared dead, and you, you, have managed to at least scratch the five percent threshold," said King at the BSW election party after the House of Representatives election. »We are subscribed to exciting election evenings, we know it. We can do it - and it's thanks to you." According to forecasts from ARD and ZDF, the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) gets 5.0 percent and would therefore just get into the House of Representatives.

6.50 p.m.: Greens in Berlin for coalition with Left and SPDThe Greens are aiming for a red-green-red coalition after the election to the Berlin House of Representatives. “We now want to take responsibility and forge a progressive alliance for Berlin together with the SPD and the Left,” explained state chairmen Nina Stahr and Philmon Ghirmai.

6.47 p.m.: The Left scores points with young voters in Berlin. The Left gets 75,000 from previous non-voters in Berlin. The party scores particularly well with young voters up to the age of 44.

6.45 p.m.: Stefan Evers: "We have clearly lost."Stefan Evers, the CDU's top candidate in Berlin, says it was an evening with mixed feelings. "On the one hand, the result of the election is humbling." They lost significantly, but gained against the downward trend. "We braced ourselves against the headwind we had." Evers only took on the role as top candidate very late, after the governing mayor, Kai Wegner, announced his withdrawal from the candidacy. Wegner stumbled over his handling of the attack on the power supply in Steglitz-Zehlendorf at the beginning of the year. Given the initial situation, this is a “very decent result,” says Evers.

6.40 p.m.: Left criticism of the election campaign in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Simone Oldenburg, left-wing top candidate in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, also criticizes the polarized election campaign, which did not benefit the democratic parties, but only the AfD. When it comes to the question of a possible government formation and a red-red-green coalition, Oldenburg initially sees the ball in the SPD's court.

6.32 p.m.: Elif Eralp's thanksElif Eralp thanks a man in the hall, Christoph: He saved her and her parents from the refugee home 45 years ago. Eralp's parents, trade union and politically active, fled Turkey in 1980 after the military coup.

6.30 p.m.: Schwesig: "That was the most difficult state election." At the SPD's election party, the Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania thanks the voters for their support and the SPD campaigners for their efforts: "What a catch-up race!" A year ago the SPD was still at 19 percent.

6.25 p.m.: Steffen Krach on the result in the capital: “A turning point for the Berlin SPD.” While the left is celebrating, the Berlin SPD is disillusioned. »This is not a night for celebration. This is a catastrophic result for the Berlin SPD,” says top candidate Steffen Krach. It must be stated that we have not managed to convince Berliners of the SPD. "It's a turning point for the Berlin SPD." They were the Berlin party for decades. Today you can no longer say that. Krach congratulates “those who won the election”: “Congratulations to the Left Party.”

6.20 p.m.: Bartsch suggests that Chancellor Friedrich Merz should resign. In his first reaction, the left-wing Bundestag member Dietmar Bartsch complained about the polarization of the election campaign in the northeast and denied the AfD the government mandate. At the same time, he thanks the Left campaigners for their commitment. In view of the CDU's result, Bartsch suggests that Chancellor Friedrich Merz resign.

6.15 p.m.: Left celebrates its record result in the Kreuzberg festival hall. Expecting the forecast, top candidate Elif Eralp and others are in the front row at the election party of the Berlin Left. When the projection of 24.5 percent comes, deafening cheers erupt. Then never-ending shouts: “Elif, Elif, Elif…” While confetti rains, Maximilian Schirmer, Left Party state chairman, speaks: “We knocked on every door, we knocked on 250,000 front doors.” The task of making the city affordable will be taken up with around 24 percent. Kerstin Wolter, also state chairwoman, says: "The Left Berlin is a brand, and the other parties are nothing." Top candidate Elif Eralp explains: "From today on we are changing Berlin, all of us together."

6:03 p.m.: ARD forecast is hereBerlin: CDU 20.0SPD 12.0Left 24.5AfD 16.0Greens 15.0BSW 5.0

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: CDU 5.5 SPD 35.5 Left 7.5 AfD 37.0 Greens 5.5 BSW 5.0

5.55 p.m.: Energysi for the Left in Mecklenburg-Western PomeraniaIn Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Left Party also relied on the mobilization forces of party icon Gregor Gysi during the election campaign. It remains to be seen whether it helped.

5.50 p.m.: "Berlin, front door goddess!" Before the first forecast, at the Berlin Left's election party in the Kreuzberg banquet hall, front door campaigners are celebrated with their battle cry: "Berlin, front door goddess!"

Photo: nd 5:45 p.m.: 58.2 percent voter turnout by 4 p.m. Two hours before the polls closed at 6 p.m., voter turnout in Berlin was 58.2 percent. In 2023 it was 48.8 percent at the same time. Voter turnout was therefore 9.4 percent higher than in 2023. In absolute numbers, this means 952,936 voters who have already checked before 4 p.m. The highest voter turnout was reported from the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district (61.4 percent), the lowest from the Spandau and Neukölln districts with 54.4 percent each.

5.40 p.m.: The Greens and the Left duel in downtown Berlin for direct mandates. As in federal elections, Berlin voters use their second vote to choose the composition of parliament and their first vote to choose a direct candidate for their constituency. Predicting who will win which constituency is difficult because there are no polls on such a small level. The platform “Zweitstimme.org” therefore calculates predictions for individual Berlin constituencies based on previous results from House of Representatives elections and nationwide second vote forecasts.

According to these forecasts, it is primarily the Greens and the Left who are fighting for direct mandates in the inner city districts. In the former East and in Neukölln, “Zweitstimme.org” sees the Left in the lead, in the West the Greens. Outside the S-Bahn ring, however, it is mainly the CDU and AfD who are dueling, with victories for the CDU candidates being predicted in the west, while AfD victories are predicted in the east.

Many constituencies are therefore open - including four out of five constituencies in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, where it is unclear whether Greens or Left direct candidates will enter the House of Representatives. In the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg 1 constituency, for example, “Zweitstimme.org” sees left-wing leading candidate Elif Eralp with a 56 percent probability of emerging as the constituency winner; The portal confirms that Kübra Beydaş from the Greens has a probability of winning of 40 percent.

Things will also be exciting in the extreme southeast of the city, in the Treptow-Köpenick 5 constituency. According to the forecasts, Denis Henkel from the AfD has a 59 percent probability of winning there. The portal sees Left candidate Loic Kliemann as having a 29 percent chance of winning the constituency.

5.35 p.m.: AfD and the Left in the lead in the U16 election in the northeast Before the election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, it was determined how those not yet eligible to vote would vote. In the U16 election organized by the State Youth Council (five years ago it was still the U18 election, but this time people aged 16 and over can vote) the AfD got 33.3 percent, the Left got 25.3 percent, the SPD got 14.2 percent and the Greens got 8.1 percent. However, the CDU remained below five percent with 3.9 percent, the Animal Welfare Party with 3.6 percent, the BSW with 2.9 percent and the FDP with 1.8 percent. The other parties received 6.8 percent of the votes.

5.30 p.m.: Young and migrant leftists at the Left Party in Neukölln. The Left Party Neukölln is celebrating at its election party in the Rixdorf ballroom. These include many young and migrant leftists who have been running a committed election campaign in the neighborhood in recent weeks. Everyone applauded at the opening speech when it was said: “We want to change society,” and this cannot be changed in parliaments, but in the social movements.

5.20 p.m.: Analysis of TV duelsPrime Minister Manuela Schwesig and AfD man Leif-Erik Holm are not only running in the same constituency. Before the vote, the two also faced each other in the election duel on Norddeutscher Rundfunk - while the smaller parties fought each other in their own round. Read the analysis of the TV disputes by nd editor Jana Frielinghaus.

5.15 p.m.: Writer Kaminer on the Berlin electionWhat would a new Berlin state government have to do? Wladimir Kaminer put it this way in the “nd”: Politics could discover Berliners for themselves. Many different people live here, some of them want to sleep while others want to dance. One should not view Berlin as a “business location” or “investment area,” but rather as a place where everyone gets their money’s worth, made by people for people.

5:00 p.m.: The crux of the matter is the socialization of large housing companies in Berlin. One of the central issues for the election in Berlin is the rent and housing crisis and - associated with it - the socialization of large housing companies. Already in 2021, in the referendum initiated by the Deutsche Wohnen und Co expropriate initiative (DWE), a majority of 59.1 percent voted in favor of socializing large housing groups with more than 3,000 apartments in Berlin. However, the successful referendum was not implemented by the Berlin state government. According to recent surveys, a large majority of 63 percent of Berliners are still in favor of socialization.

There were already heated arguments during the election campaign about whether a future state government should implement the referendum or not. A possible coalition of the Left, the Greens and the SPD would be divided on this issue. While the Left speaks out in favor of socialization and the Greens see themselves bound to the implementation of the referendum, SPD leading candidate Steffen Krach is a vehement opponent of expropriation. He had said he would not join a coalition that made expropriation a prerequisite. In the nd interview, Karla Hildebrandt, spokeswoman for DWE, explains what the initiative thinks and what its current plans are.

4.55 p.m.: Who will win the Schwerin I constituency? Particular attention will be given to the result in the Schwerin I constituency this evening after the polling stations close. There, SPD Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and the AfD's "prime ministerial candidate" Leif-Erik Holm are competing against each other. Both cast their votes in the morning.

4.40 p.m.: Regional bishop: "Ethnic nationalism is incompatible with the Christian view of God and man." In Schwerin Cathedral, the regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany, Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, emphasized in her sermon on election Sunday that Christian faith contradicts all forms of exclusion, contempt and violence. At the same time, she warned that there should be no “creeping habituation to a kind of normality of evil, to evil and unscrupulousness.” "Because in this way, with the slow and increasing habituation to evil, to inhumane language, images and actions - this is how dictatorships and tyrants also begin to slowly creep into people's minds and hearts."

4.30 p.m.: Who is allowed to vote in Berlin - and who is not? A good one in four Berliners is not entitled to vote in the House of Representatives election. According to the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office, 976,419 foreigners lived in the capital as of the last reference date on December 31, 2025. They are all affected by the decisions of state politics, but are not allowed to elect their representatives.

The situation is different at the district level. At least EU citizens aged 16 and over have the right to vote and stand as candidates in local elections in Germany. In Berlin there are a total of around 273,000 people. In the districts of Neukölln and Tempelhof-Schöneberg, an “independent, migrant voter community” that calls itself “Foreigners for Berlin” is running for the first time. Why she does this and what she wants can be read here.

4.30 p.m.: Raising the mood against the election in the northeast on social media. In social networks, an attempt is being made to stir up sentiment against the election with videos of postal ballots for the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, on which the AfD is allegedly missing. According to the state election authorities, the ballot papers shown are forgeries.

4:15 p.m.: Will the CDU make it into the Schwerin state parliament? The outcome of the duel for the strongest force between the AfD and the SPD, which has made a remarkable comeback with Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, is eagerly awaited in the northeast. The performance of the smaller parties also provides a thrill - especially for the CDU. The Christian Democrats, shaken by the election defeat in Saxony-Anhalt and the quarrels surrounding Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have recently come dangerously close to the five percent hurdle in surveys in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

4:05 p.m.: Left leader Eralp: "We have a great chance of changing Berlin" "If someone had told me a year ago that we had such a great chance of really changing Berlin - I wouldn't have expected it, even if I of course hoped so," says Elif Eralp, the Left's top candidate for the election to the Berlin House of Representatives, in a video on Instagram. Polls predict a neck-and-neck race between the Left and the CDU for victory in today's election. Both parties are predicted to achieve results of around 20 percent.

What is certain is that the Left will significantly improve its result compared to the last election. In the repeat election in 2023, the party received 12.2 percent of the vote. The CDU is completely different. She is expected to lose a lot of votes. In 2023 she received 28.2 percent of the vote. Certainly one reason for this: the devastating results after three years in government, which can be read in the text by Marten Brehmer.

4 p.m.: Higher voter turnout in Mecklenburg-Western PomeraniaIn Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, after a highly polarized election campaign, which was most recently characterized by the SPD and AfD's neck-and-neck race, there are signs of a higher voter turnout than in the last election in 2021. According to the state election management, 40.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the northeast had already cast their vote by 2 p.m. At this time five years ago it was 32.5 percent.

3:55 p.m.: According to the police, there was isolated damage to property before the start of the election in Berlin. According to the police, there was isolated damage to property when the polling stations opened. A lock was glued to a polling station in Schöneberg. “Access to the polling station was able to be restored by the polling station board itself,” as police spokesman Jörn Iffländer said in a post on the X platform. Overall, the election Sunday went “completely problem-free”. “We are very satisfied with how the operation went.” In total, the police have 1,100 officers on duty.

3.45 p.m.: What is being voted in Berlin In each of the 78 constituencies in Berlin, a direct candidate is elected for the House of Representatives. The second votes of the approximately 2.5 million eligible voters determine the distribution of seats. There are normally 130 representatives, currently there are 159 due to overhang and compensatory mandates. In addition, the voters are redefining the composition of the local parliaments in the twelve districts.

3:25 p.m.: 3.8 million people eligible to vote. In Berlin, around 2.5 million eligible voters can cast their votes for the election to the House of Representatives, and around 1.3 million people in the northeast.

3.15 p.m.: CDU Presidium meets in Berlin on election evening This evening, the CDU Presidium around Federal Chairman and Chancellor Friedrich Merz meets in Berlin for consultations in the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus. Merz has been under massive pressure since the debacle in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt two weeks ago, where the CDU finished behind the AfD.

3:00 p.m.: Turnout in the Berlin election so far higher than in 2023The turnout in the election for the Berlin House of Representatives has so far been higher than in the 2023 election. At 12:00 p.m. it was 27.9 percent, as the state election authorities announced. At the same time in 2023 it was 23.4 percent.

2:45 p.m.: Young people are allowed to vote for the first time

For the first time, young people aged 16 and over are allowed to vote in the House of Representatives election in Berlin. This was previously possible in the elections to the district council assemblies and in the European elections. When voting for the state parliament, the minimum age previously applied was 18 years. And in the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 16 and 17 year olds also have the right to cast their vote for the first time. Agencies/nd

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