The truth: Vote and let be elected

A gym in the Berlin district of Wedding. Polling stations 522 and 529 share the hall for voting for the 2026 House of Representatives election. Election officer Detlef Kasulke from polling station 522 is there for the first time. "I signed up and thought I would be an assessor and learn the voting business from the ground up, but then the call came and suddenly I was boss. You have to know more than an assessor. For example, the flags, they have to hang correctly, otherwise there will be trouble. Europe on the left, Germany in the middle and Berlin on the right. Haha, Berlin on the right."

The first voters arrive at eight o'clock sharp. Including the first troublemaker of the day. He pulls a shopping cart behind him, and then he'll probably visit all the late night restaurants in the neighborhood and say hello and more. The early time suggests that he still has a lot planned. Probably a tour of the S-Bahn ring, where he confronts the other travelers with a previously unknown theory about the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson in the Battle of Hastings.

But first he takes his time in the voting booth to make the two ballot papers robustly unusable, with drawings of genitals and political slogans that lack any feasibility. Later, election officer Kasulke and his colleagues will come across these pieces of paper while emptying the ballot box and decide together to declare this voter's will invalid.

The electoral officer from 529 has now brought food and drink for his people using a handcart. A coffee shop including a barista, a hot dog machine and a full quick service restaurant with drive-thru. "Unfortunately, I can't help with that," reports Kasulke from 522. "I brought my people some hazelnut slices and a bag of gummy bears. Just a small thing. There was nothing in the documents that said I should feed my colleagues. Whatever Rogowski over there is saying, he just wants to show off."

The lack of food dampens the mood a little. Occasionally, colleagues from 522 go over to 529 and praise the organizational skills of election officer Rogowski, for which they are rewarded with a hot dog or a burger.

Kasulke's sweets are intended more for children. When the little ones enter the gym, a split-second decision has to be made as to whether they can influence the parents' will. Danger lurks from the age of three. Expressions of dissatisfaction towards the other voting booths, which, in the worst case, manipulate voting behavior there, cannot be ruled out.

“We send children to the fast food restaurant on 529,” reports Kasulke. "A burger or fries, and the idiots are distracted while they're voting. I don't think they really understand where they are here yet."

This goes well until six-year-old Emmy Luise enters the gym. She spent weeks preparing to coach her mother in voting, analyzed all the elections of the last 50 years in both East and West, listened to politicians' interviews for hours and then enrolled to study political science. But electoral officer Kasulke stands in her way and points out the legal situation. Her mother is impressed by this, but Emmy Luise protests with the hardest means at her disposal - she starts crying.

The mood changes. Other voters are outraged by the way the country's future is being dealt with, and some are using their cell phones to inform the electoral office, Amnesty International or the youth welfare office. Electoral officer Kasulke grabs the sweets and offers them all to the child, but Emmy Luise refuses the unhealthy snack, also because she sees her weekly Hyrox competition in the gym at risk due to the unauthorized intake of fattening calories.

Kasulke finally resigns and allows the child to enter the cabin. Emmy Luise thanks her by kicking her in the shin, which forces Kasulke to go to the rescue center that night because of excessive swelling.

The polling station closes at 6 p.m. and counting begins. The ballot papers are sorted and some people shake their heads when a voter chooses both left and right. All the pieces of paper are counted, then again and again until it seems to be OK and everyone can't do it anymore.

Kasulke calls the election office, reports enforcement and gives the numbers. The colleagues from 529 are still counting. Fast food is just not good for your performance, Kasulke thinks and is satisfied. "So I had fun and I did a service for democracy. I'm confident that I'll be there again next time." Then he limps home.