Runoff election in Cologne: Aymaz and Burmester fight for mayor's office!

Runoff election in Cologne: Aymaz and Burmester fight for mayor's office!

There was great excitement in the local elections on September 14, 2025 in Cologne, but the result did not bring an immediate decision for the mayor's office. Instead, the people of Cologne are now called upon to go to the runoff election again on September 28th. The two candidates up for election are Berîvan Aymaz from the Greens and Torsten Burmester from the SPD. Aymaz came out on top with 28.12 percent of the vote, followed by Burmester with 21.33 percent and Markus Greitemann from the CDU, who received 19.47 percent. The latter has already spoken out clearly in favor of Burmester and is recommending that his supporters also vote for the SPD in the runoff election, as 24Rhein reports.

The election committee will determine the final election results on September 15, 2025 at 4 p.m. Before the runoff election, the people of Cologne who are on the voters' register were already informed in writing and can cast their vote either on site at the polling station or by postal vote. Polling offices will be open on Sunday, September 28th from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Anyone who would like to vote by postal vote has the option of submitting applications online or in writing. Direct voting can be done until Friday, September 26th, at 3 p.m. in your own city district or in the atrium of the Kalk Karrees, reports the city of Cologne stadt-koeln.de.

Voter participation

Good news: voter turnout in the local elections was 57.7 percent, which represents an increase compared to the 2020 election, where only 51.0 percent cast their vote. Over 800,000 eligible voters went to the polls and decided not only on the future mayor, but also on the district councils and the city council. Despite a slight loss of 3.5 percent, the Greens were able to perform strongly with 25 percent of the vote, although they were distracted from last year's position as the strongest force in the city council, as WDR reports.

In the post-election negotiations there were discussions between the parties, particularly with regard to the construction of a new subway and the expansion of 1. FC Köln in Cologne's popular green belt. This is likely to be an important issue in the coming runoff election, because Cologne voters have clear ideas about the direction in which their city should develop. Preparations for counting the votes are already in full swing; In the afternoon, around 4,000 volunteers began opening and pre-sorting the postal ballot envelopes in the exhibition halls.

On September 28th it will be seen who can win the race for the mayor's office in Cologne. Until then, the tension will remain high and voters are called upon to cast their vote consciously.