Magdeburg mistakenly sends out 440 duplicate mail-in ballots
Translated from German, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Magdeburg mistakenly sent out 440 duplicate sets of mail-in ballots for the upcoming state election on September 6.
- The city's election office has invalidated the duplicate ballots and will issue new ones with unique numbers to affected voters.
- Officials assure that the integrity of the election remains intact and multiple voting is impossible.
Ahead of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, the city of Magdeburg has reported an error in its mail-in ballot distribution. Approximately 440 residents mistakenly received two sets of voting documents.
The city's election office identified the duplicates and has declared them invalid. Affected voters will receive new, uniquely numbered ballots. The state election authority has been informed of the situation. According to the election office, the error occurred due to a printing and mailing mistake, with the 440 duplicate ballots being sent out erroneously.
Officials have emphasized that the integrity of the election process has not been compromised and that multiple voting is not possible. The invalidated ballots will be cross-referenced on election day by polling station staff to ensure no invalid votes are counted. Voters who received the duplicate documents have been advised to discard them.
Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.