Berlin cyberattack spares election systems but disrupts postal vote requests for a day

Berlin’s upcoming Sept. 20 elections for the state parliament and 12 district councils remain unaffected by a recent cyberattack on the city’s administrative network, Interior Senator Iris Spranger said on Aug. 19. The SPD politician stated that IT systems critical for election preparation and vote counting were not compromised, though online applications for postal ballots were temporarily unavailable for about a day before service resumed early on Aug. 19. By 3 p.m. that day, more than 21,000 postal vote requests had been processed, matching typical daily volumes, she added .

Two Senate departments remain disconnected from Berlin’s state IT network following the attack, which was detected on Aug. 15, according to reporting on Aug. 20. Mayor Kai Wegner sought to reassure the public, acknowledging the disruption while emphasizing ongoing efforts to resolve the issue . Authorities have not confirmed a direct link between the cyberattack and the brief postal vote system outage, the state election office said.

Separately, Berlin police reported a surge in election-related vandalism and harassment ahead of the vote. As of Aug. 17, officers recorded 227 cases of damaged campaign posters, with 117 targeting the AfD, 33 the CDU, 23 the SPD, 18 the Linke, and 16 the FDP. Bündnis 90/Die Grünen reported seven incidents, BSW five, and Volt three. Five cases could not be attributed to any party. Posters were torn down, defaced, covered, or set on fire, police said, noting no clear pattern in the methods used .

Police also documented six violent incidents against politicians or their representatives, five involving AfD members and one targeting the Linke. Eight cases of verbal abuse were reported, including three against AfD staff, two each against Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and the Linke, and one against the SPD. Over the weekend, a 57-year-old man allegedly insulted an AfD worker at a stand on Schönhauser Allee in Prenzlauer Berg, while a 41-year-old man was accused of grabbing an AfD employee’s arm and tearing up party materials. In Köpenick’s Allende-Viertel, three Linke campaigners were allegedly insulted, threatened, and physically attacked while putting up posters, with one injured and posters damaged .

The Linke called for thorough investigations to hold perpetrators accountable. Authorities have not indicated whether the incidents are connected or politically motivated beyond their election context.