Wahl-O-Mat launches with 38 theses ahead of Berlin state election on 20 September

Voting tool rollout and structure

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) launched its Wahl-O-Mat comparison tool on 24 August at 11:15 ahead of the Berlin state election scheduled for 20 September 2026. Roughly 2.5 million eligible voters will decide the composition of the Abgeordnetenhaus for the upcoming five-year legislative period, choosing among 17 approved political parties. Users interact with the online tool by responding to 38 policy theses with options to agree, disagree, remain neutral, or skip. Voters can apply double weighting to specific topics of interest and select any combination of the 17 contesting parties to calculate alignment percentages. The platform also provides detailed justifications authored by the parties alongside party profiles, functioning strictly as an informational tool rather than an official voting recommendation.

Development and institutional oversight

The 38 final theses were curated by an independent editorial team composed of young and first-time Berlin voters, political scientists, statisticians, educators, and agency staff. The editorial group initially submitted 80 draft theses to all participating parties, subsequently narrowing the selection to 38 based on thematic relevance and divergence among party platforms. The political parties themselves do not participate in thesis formulation or selection, authoring only their formal responses and accompanying rationales. Operating as a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the bpb has deployed the Wahl-O-Mat format for federal, state, and European elections since 2002. Institutional neutrality is supervised by a 22-member parliamentary board of trustees drawn from the German Bundestag, supported by a scientific advisory council of up to 12 experts.

According to its founding statutes, the agency pursues a defined mandate for civic engagement:

promote democratic awareness among the population and motivate and enable people in the Federal Republic of Germany to participate maturely, critically, and actively in political life

Campaign themes and political landscape

The upcoming vote follows a shift in leadership for the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which currently leads a black-red coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Governing Mayor Kai Wegner withdrew his lead candidacy in July following criticism of his crisis management and communications during a power outage in southwestern Berlin in January. Stefan Evers now heads the CDU ticket, placing internal security at the center of the party platform. The left-wing opposition, led by Linke lead candidate Elif Eralp, joins the Greens in demanding the expropriation of large real estate and housing corporations across the capital. The SPD focuses its campaign on public social housing construction and a new rent cap, while the Alternative for Germany (AfD), led by Kristin Brinker, focuses primarily on migration policy.

Polling dynamics and timeline to election day

Public opinion surveys show a tightly grouped field where the CDU, Die Linke, and the AfD have alternated at the top, each polling near 20%. The Greens and the SPD register double-digit support directly behind the leading group, while the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) poll near the five-percent electoral threshold required to enter the parliament. Forming a governing majority will require coalition negotiations across several party lines, with potential alliances including left-leaning coalitions or renewed pacts centered on the CDU. Polling stations across Berlin will open on Sunday, 20 September from 08:00 to 18:00, with postal voting available ahead of the count.