Berlin Elections

   Antonia, my host sister who I have been waiting to meet, arrived back from Thailand the same day as the Berlin city elections. We had a wonderful breakfast with Antonia, Christine, the grandparents, the Uncle, and 2 of Antonia's school friends.
   They were all excited about the elections and talk about who they were going to vote for. They were very open about who they wanted to win, and were proud of who they voted for. I feel many Americans do not advertise who they vote for because they want to avoid judgement or an argument.
   Later in the day, Antonia tells of her adventures in Thailand and we get to know each other more. They leave during the day to go vote, and I thought they would be gone for maybe an hour. They were back within 5 minutes. I originally thought they were going to be awhile because of my experience as a poll worker for the 2008 Presidential Elections. Voters had to come in and verify their name, then address, then got their voting slip. Many people actually were not on our address list so they had to vote by mail. If voters spoke another language they had to go to another station. It was very complicated and voters had to go to at least 3 booths/tables before they could vote. The precinct I volunteered at was in a small room of a church (way to separate church and state America) so it would get very crowded during the day. I didn't understand why it had to be so complicated. I actually heard many voters complain during the process and it almost seemed easier if they had done absentee voting or had not voted at all. I told Christine about my experience and she didn't understand. "It's so easy here. We are in and out within minutes", she says.
     Later that evening, we had an election party at our flat to see the results. Many of Christine and Antonia's friends come. Ironically, Christine is really good friends with Paz's host mother, Renata. So they also come over.
    The election results were very interesting. The SPD won with 28%. The SPD, or Social Democrats is probably one of the oldest parties in Germany. They really emphasis the mixture of a capitalistic democracy and an social market economy.
    Trailing right behind with 23% is the CDU, the Christian Democracy. The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel is the current leader of the party. They are a conservatice party that supports European integreation. They do oppose Turkey's entrance into the EU, but do wish to keep Turkey as a strong Allie.(an interesting fact I learned).
      The Linke party (the left) only had 11%. They are stereotyped as the reminisce of the old DDR. They wish to overcome capitalism with democratic socialism. Apparently this is different from social democracy? I am not sure how though.
      The FPD, Free Democrats or Liberals, did not get much votes this year because of their opposition to "simple solutions." Liberal in German has a different meaning than in the USA. A liberal is not scaled to the right or to the left, but is centered in the middle of the spectrum. What this means politically I don't know but I did learn why they lost popularity. Because of the crisis with the value of the Euro, they want to kick countries like Greece and Portugal out of the EU. A "simple solution" is not always the best.
      The NPD or neo-nazis, just come up on the screen as "Andere Partei" which means "other parties" and had 8%.
     The Grune Party, Green party, was probably what I would have voted for if I had the chance. Even thought they lost the election with an overall 17%, they have grown tremendously within the last few years. Many of Antonia's friends and even her grandparents voted for the Greens. Apart from ecological issues such as environmental protection, the Greens also campaign for the rights of minorities. The majority of the issues that the Greens champion cater to an especially young, urban, and higher-educated class of voters.
     And finally, a new party sprouted within the last few years, the Pirate party. I don't know much about them besides that they attract the younger voters. The party is a huge supporter for civil liberties and opposes
the European data retention policies and Germany's internet censorship law called Zugangserschwerungsgesetz.
     I learned much about the parties yet also believe I have not touched on the surface of each. What I thought most interesting was the difference between the west and east Berlin votes. In the west, the CDU and SPD dominated with over 20%. The Greens and the Pirates were not too far behind. BUT on the east, the Linke had a good amount of votes, but there was also a very strong support from the Pirates. It was interesting seeing a typical anti-capitalist party AND a civil-right supporting party have popularity within the east.
   German politics is completely new to me, but learning has also taught me much about American politics. Sorry if I bore any followers with political talk; I find it to be a new fascination for myself.

On a more exciting note, we have a week long vacation from school in October. Paz and I booked our tickets to Dublin! I will visit a friend I haven't seen since high school. From Dublin we will fly to Brussels and stay there for 2 days. From Brussels we will drive to Cologne, Germany. I have a few friends there who I actually met in Berkeley. From Cologne we will drive back to Berlin. On an even better note, OKTOBERFEST IS THIS WEEKEND!!!! Expect a juicy post soon :)