Rising mail-in voting sparks debate over secrecy and reliability in German elections

Mail voting was introduced in the 1950s as an exceptional measure for voters who could not attend polling stations, requiring a justification for the request. Over the decades it has expanded dramatically, raising doubts about the ability to guarantee a secret and fully monitored vote. The piece highlights a technical error in Saxony-Anhalt that resulted in over a thousand duplicate postal voting packages being dispatched, forcing officials to invalidate the originals and re-issue new forms.

It also recounts a case in Dessau where a senior-care facility allegedly submitted a ballot for a demented 95-year-old woman without her legal representative’s consent, prompting a police report. While some political actors, notably the AfD, question the integrity of mail voting, the author stresses that even routine mishaps can foster a climate of mistrust that harms democratic legitimacy.