Berlin’s Foreign Residents Feel Excluded as Election Day Approaches

As campaign posters adorn the streets of Berlin ahead of the September 20 state election, a significant portion of the city’s population remains unable to cast a ballot. Abdu Taviq, an Egyptian software developer who moved to the capital seven years ago, finds himself in this situation. Despite praising Berlin’s vibrant culture and relaxed lifestyle, Taviq expresses frustration over his lack of political voice.

“We are people who pay taxes, but we don’t have any representation at all, even on local level,” said Taviq, noting that recent cuts to kindergartens and German language courses directly impact him. He is among approximately 976,000 adults in Berlin—representing a quarter of the city’s 3.9 million residents—who cannot vote because they do not hold German citizenship. This figure has doubled since 2011.

The disparity is particularly stark in central districts. In Mitte, Green Party mayor Stefanie Remlinger reported that around 135,000 of the district’s 365,000 adult residents are disenfranchised. To highlight this issue, Remlinger organized a symbolic election in early September, inviting non-Germans to vote at 15 ballot stations. “It’s important to us to signal to those people that we value their opinions, that we see them,” she told DW.

However, participation in such initiatives is expected to be low due to the politically charged atmosphere. Remlinger noted that Germany is experiencing a “rightward shift” with rising anti-immigrant sentiment. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party currently polls in second place in Berlin with nearly 20% support. She also criticized comments from the Free Democratic Party (FDP), where a politician suggested that granting voting rights to foreigners could lead to them forming their own parties and taking over the government.

Germany’s electoral laws distinguish between municipal and state elections. While EU citizens can vote in local municipal polls, Berlin’s upcoming vote is a state election because the capital is also a federal state. Consequently, voting rights are restricted to German nationals. Other European nations, such as Spain and the UK, offer broader voting rights to foreign residents in local elections, but Berlin does not.

From an economic standpoint, experts argue that losing skilled workers would be detrimental. Germany faces a projected shortfall of 440,000 workers by 2029. Despite this need, expanding voting rights remains a contentious topic. Although Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government maintained the five-year residency requirement for citizenship introduced by the previous administration, it eliminated a faster three-year track. Meanwhile, naturalizations in Berlin rose to 39,000 in 2025, but many residents like Taviq still face long delays and a sense of political exclusion.

Taviq admitted that the current hostile climate makes him consider leaving Germany. “If I could vote, I would reconsider leaving, to be honest, because then I could affect things, but now I’m just like a bank machine — they come to me and take half of my salary,” he said.