Union wants to summon Federal Election Commissioner to the Interior Committee

WELT Union wants to summon Federal Election Commissioner to the Interior Committee Article by Kristian Frigelj • 32 million • 4 minutes reading time "Incalculable risks": In a letter that has been made public, Federal Election Commissioner Ruth Brand warns against holding new elections too early, which implicitly supports the Chancellor's plan. The Union now wants to make the matter a topic in the Bundestag. The Greens accuse the CDU and CSU of behaving "shabbily". Until a few days ago, Ruth Brand was hardly known to anyone. Her role as Federal Election Commissioner is already much more familiar, although she is perceived more as an institution than as a person. Many more people now know the name of Social Democrat Brand after a politically explosive letter from her to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was made public on Friday. In it, the Election Commissioner appointed by the SPD-led Interior Ministry warns against holding new elections too early, emphasizing "incalculable risks" in preparing and holding a legally secure Bundestag election. This implicitly supports Scholz's timetable, because according to the original announcement, the Chancellor does not want to put the vote of confidence in parliament until January 15, 2024, thus initiating the dissolution of the Bundestag and early new elections at around the end of March. Scholz has since indicated that he is open to an earlier date, but has linked this to conditions for cooperation with the opposition on legislative proposals. A few days after the spectacular end of the traffic light government, the letter from the Federal Returning Officer is causing additional political turbulence: the Union, FDP, AfD and BSW are calling for the vote of confidence in the coming days, for example when Scholz makes a government statement in the Bundestag next Wednesday. They suspect that the Federal Returning Officer is using political maneuvers in favor of the Chancellor. The Union faction is therefore demanding clarification in the Bundestag. Its domestic policy spokesman Alexander Throm (CDU) considers Brand's letter to be "highly irritating" and sees it as a contradiction to previous statements made by her authority. The question therefore arises as to whether this letter was written on the author's own initiative or whether the Federal Chancellery or the SPD-led Ministry of the Interior had an influence on it," said Throm. "That is why the CDU/CSU parliamentary group will request that the Federal Returning Officer come to the Interior Committee next Wednesday to provide clarification. I expect that the Federal Government will not block the Federal Returning Officer's appearance." When it comes to the sensitive issue of possible influence on fair and independent election management, "the highest level of transparency is required." In the letter, Brand speaks of a "major organizational challenge" due to the limited time frame until the new election and warns: "If dates and deadlines fall during the Christmas period or the period between Christmas and New Year, the very short period of 60 days would be significantly shortened." According to Brand, this could "lead to incalculable risks at all levels, especially at the municipal level, and make procurement measures virtually impossible to implement." The procurement of paper and the commissioning of printing service providers for the election documents are difficult and "require a longer lead time". She also mentions "the increasing hybrid threats" to the IT infrastructure of municipalities, states and the federal government, which therefore require careful examination. These concerns are seen as a devastating signal and are causing all kinds of criticism and malice on social media. For AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel, Brand's reasons against an early new election sound "pretextual" and the argument about an alleged lack of paper is "downright absurd". Even the paper industry has spoken out publicly and assured that an early new election would not fail due to a lack of paper. If ordered in time, the paper required for an early federal election can be supplied, said Alexander von Reibnitz, General Manager of the Paper Industry Association, to ZDF. The Federal Returning Officer herself tried to soften the gloomy tone of her letter and stressed on X: "We have of course started preparations for a possible #new election in order to be able to overcome the challenges posed by the shortened deadlines together with all those involved. We must make all the preparations as we would for a regular federal election." A spokesman for the Federal Returning Officer also rejected the criticism from the opposition to the Reuters news agency and explained that there had been "no instructions or influence on the position of the Federal Returning Officer in connection with new elections." It is the Federal Returning Officer's job to ensure the proper preparation and conduct of nationwide elections "and also to point out risks here." Brand is planning a meeting with the state election officials on Monday.