In the German capital has opened about 1,800 polling stations.
In Berlin with the status of Federal land, Sunday, September 18, elections to the regional Parliament and the local authorities. Polling stations opened at 8.00 am local time (9.00 a.m. CET).
The right to vote can have about 2.5 million people, the city has about 1,800 sites. For the 130 seats in Berlin’s Parliament are fighting 927 candidates from 21 parties.
According to a survey conducted by the Institute Infratest dimap on order of the TV channel ARD in early September, 21% of respondents supported the Social democratic party of Germany (SPD). It is followed by the Christian democratic Union (CDU) (19%), “Soyuz-90″/”green” (16%), the Left party and appeared in the 2013 “Alternative for Germany” (ADH) (15%).
The ruling mayor of Berlin, an SPD member, Michael Mueller intends to stay in power and previously called for the creation of a coalition with “green”. But the polls show that this option is unlikely, both parties can gain enough votes to create a majority in Parliament. Major parties refuse to cooperate with right populist antidiuretic hormone, which participates in the elections in Berlin for the first time, so there is a possibility of coalition with the SPD, green and Left party.
In the last election in 2011, voter turnout is 60.2%. Then the ruling coalition formed by the SPD and CDU with the results of 28.3 and 23.3%, respectively. Green scored 17.6% of the votes, the Left party – 11,7%. The pirate party is 8.9%.
