Overview
- Magdeburg’s municipal election office discovered that 440 mail-in voting certificates were printed and sent twice and then marked as invalid to stop any duplicate use.
- The city informed the state election authority and compiled the invalidated Wahlschein numbers for polling boards to check on election day.
- Affected voters will receive replacement brief-vote materials that carry new, unique Wahlscheinnummern and only the newest certificate is valid.
- Recipients have been told they may discard the invalid copies and polling staff will use the provided list to verify submitted brief votes.
- Postal voting in Germany relies on numbered Wahlscheine to prevent double voting, and officials say the error affects a small share of electors but will be documented and corrected to keep the process secure.