Pam Selwyn writes to let you know about an event that will be taking place in Berlin between 29 August and 4 September. As most of you doubtless know, EU passport holders can vote in the local (Bezirk) elections in Berlin, but not the state (Land) elections. This makes little sense in a city-state like Berlin, since it is hard to separate out city and state issues. Non-EU passport holders are completely disenfranchised in Berlin, no matter how long they have lived here. If this bothers you, please show up to vote in the upcoming symbolic elections. I attach the English flyer and include links to the JedeStimme 2011 website where you can read and download additional material and find out where the closest “polling place” to you is. AVA is sponsoring a polling place at SprachWerk language school at Solmsstrasse 30 (in the courtyard), right off Bergmannstrasse.
The opening hours will be Friday and Saturday from 2 to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 4. All you have to do is show up and cast your ballot. It would be great if lots of people participated to show that the “foreigners” who live here actually care about Berlin local and state politics, which affects us all. A good response would encourage the Berlin parliament to debate this issue. Please also forward this information to anybody you know who might be interested!
The website of the campaign
http://jedestimme2011.de/
flyers in 12 languages to download
http://jedestimme2011.de/symbolische-wahlen/material-fur-die-wahllokale/
list of the polling places (please check back for updates before you go)
http://jedestimme2011.de/symbolische-wahlen/ubersicht-der-wahllokale/
