es of persuading the local government to reverse plans to shutter historic Tempelhof airport later this year. About 611,000 votes from Berlin’s 2.4 million eligible voters are needed in order for the balloting to be considered legitimate. Of those, a majority would need to be in favor of keeping the airport open in order for the city government to even consider taking up the issue again.
Yet even that may not be enough to override the decision by the city government to close Tempelhof in October as part of plans for a large central airport southeast of the city.
By midday Sunday, voter turnout was just under 15 percent, officials said. In addition, roughly 235,000 Berlin residents had sent in absentee ballots.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who heads a left-wing coalition that includes ex-communists, has said he will ignore the outcome of the nonbinding referendum and move ahead with plans to close the airport.
The airport’s backers — supported by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats — have been appealing to Berliners’ emotions to keep open Tempelhof, the hub of the Berlin Airlift where the Allies supplied the city with food and fuel for nearly a year during a Soviet blockade. Placards have urged them to “listen to your heart — not to the mayor” and have proclaimed that “all power comes from the people.”
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