Court Approves Election Result Release

Germany's Constitution Court has ruled that preliminary election results from the Sept. 18 vote can be released, despite appeals by unnamed citizens that they should be kept secret until Oct. 2 when a by-election in the city of Dresden takes place. Preliminary election results are normally released several hours after polls close at 6 p.m. The by-election in Dresden was triggered by the sudden death of a candidate for the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), Kerstin Lorenz. It was too late to reprint ballots in time for Sunday, Sept. 18, which necessitated a separate local vote be planned for two weeks later on Oct. 2. The expected close outcome of the Sept. 18 vote indicates that the ballots of the 220,000 voters in the Dresden district could influence the national result.