Election time in Gütersloh: Postal voting starts on October 10th for mayors!

Election time in Gütersloh: Postal voting starts on October 10th for mayors!

An exciting election is coming up in Gütersloh in which the population has the opportunity to elect a new mayor. Preparations for the local elections on Sunday, November 17th are in full swing and the first important steps have already been taken. From Thursday, October 10th, citizens eligible to vote can cast their votes by postal vote, which allows them to take part in the election flexibly and conveniently.

The town hall has already received the documents for the main election as well as for a possible runoff election that could take place on Sunday, December 1st. In the coming days, election notifications will be sent to approximately 80,500 eligible voters. Anyone who has not received a notification by October 27th should contact the town hall by October 31st at the email address wahlen@guetersloh.de to find out about their eligibility to vote.

Eligibility and candidates

In order to take part in the election, voters must be at least 16 years old on election day and have either German citizenship or that of an EU member state. They also have to be based in Gütersloh almost three weeks before the election. Citizens can choose from four candidates approved by the election committee: Henning Matthes from the CDU, Gitte Trostmann from the Greens, Matthias Stapelr from the SPD and Torsten Drescher from the AfD.

Postal voting documents can be requested in various ways. According to Philipp Wilkens, head of the council affairs and citizen dialogue department, it is possible to apply for the documents electronically, in writing or in person at the town hall. These documents are then sent by post and there is only a ballot paper that needs to be filled out and signed.

For citizens who would prefer to collect their postal voting documents in person, the postal voting office in the town hall's citizens' office will open on October 10th. Voters can pick up their documents here during regular opening hours or even vote directly. Opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the doors are open every second and fourth Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first interested parties can cast their vote on October 12th.

Changes to polling stations

In a further organizational step, the number of polling stations in Gütersloh will be reduced from two to one in each of the 22 voting districts. This was decided based on the experiences of the past few years. In voting district 130, the polling station will also be moved to the Overbergschule on Neuenkirchener Straße, while in voting district 120 the Sundern elementary school will be eliminated. Voters in this district must now go to the Zwilling-Scholl-Realschule to cast their vote. Every citizen can find the exact address of their polling station on the election notification they receive.

The election team led by Michael Wittenstein and Christina Jeske is available to citizens at any time if they have any questions about the election. You can be contacted by phone at 05241 / 82 – 39 39 or by email at wahlen@guetersloh.de. The coming weeks promise an exciting time for everyone in Gütersloh, as the decision about the future leadership of the city is imminent.