Strausberg Holds Repeat Mayoral Election with Four Candidates After Annulled Vote

Polling opens in Strausberg

Voting commenced at 8:00 AM on Sunday for the repeat mayoral election in Strausberg. Nearly 23,000 eligible voters across the town of 28,000 residents are called to cast their ballots. The municipality is located within the Märkisch-Oderland district, situated east of Berlin. This repeat vote was scheduled after the prior municipal election was declared invalid due to allegations of electoral manipulation and several formal election objections. The new ballot determines who will take charge of the town hall following the annulled spring contest.

The four mayoral candidates

A total of four candidates are competing for the mayoral post in the repeat ballot. Annette Binder is contesting the office again as an independent individual candidate while continuing her professional work as a commercial hospital manager. Trade union secretary Knut-Sören Steinkopf is also mounting a renewed campaign, standing as the nominee for the party Die Linke. Two new contenders have entered the race as independent individual candidates. These new entrants include Stephan Blumenthal, who works as a department head at the Strausberg tax office, and Robert Krause, who serves as a company managing director. Former candidate Patrick Hübner, who contested the previous mayoral election, is not standing in this repeat vote.

Annulment of the March runoff

The decision to hold a fresh election stems from the cancellation of the previous runoff contest held in March. In that vote, Binder secured the mayoral seat after winning 60.8% of the ballots against Hübner. Binder then served as the mayor of Strausberg for approximately four weeks before the result was officially annulled. The annulment followed multiple formal election objections centered on alleged irregularities in the handling of postal voting. A key point of contention involved the municipal post office box designated for postal voting letters, which was located inside a postal branch operated by candidate Hübner.

Legal inquiry and runoff schedule

The controversy prompted the administration of the Märkisch-Oderland district to submit a criminal complaint against unknown persons. The public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt (Oder) subsequently conducted an investigation into suspected election fraud regarding the postal voting arrangements and candidate Hübner. The public prosecutor's office has since closed the investigative proceedings against the former candidate.

Sufficient suspicion against the accused could not be established.

In the event that no candidate secures an absolute majority during the Sunday vote, a runoff election is scheduled for 11 October.