2 weeks Ago By Oliver Hartwich
L ast November, Germany’s “traffic light” coalition collapsed and snap elections were called for February. I dutifully registered to vote as a German living abroad. Following the proper procedure, I contacted the city council of the last place I lived before emigrating twenty-one years ago.
Germany allows its citizens to vote for twenty-five years after their emigration, so I still qualify—though only just. Although they received my registration months before the election, I did not receive my ballot papers until Saturday, February 22—precisely one day before the election. The postmark showed they were sent from Germany on February 10.
Had German efficiency not become an oxymoron, perhaps they might have considered that mail to New Zealand takes at least four weeks for a round trip—just under two weeks to reach me and two more to return. Under German law, postal ballots must arrive at the local election office by 6 p.m.
on election day—a physical impossibility...
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