Rostock (dpa/mv) - The second round of the mayoral elections started in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's largest city, on Sunday. The left-wing politician Eva-Maria Kröger and the non-party Michael Ebert, who is supported by the CDU/FDP, will compete against each other in the run-off election.
Both were almost level in the first round on November 13th. Kröger received 25.3 percent of the votes two weeks ago, Ebert 23.6 percent. The polling stations are open until 6 p.m. The first meaningful results are expected between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
In direct elections, around 172,000 eligible voters aged 16 and over are called upon to elect a new mayor. The office is awarded for seven years. Both candidates had answered questions from journalists, entrepreneurs and citizens in several live forums over the past few days.
The election was necessary because the previous incumbent, Claus Ruhe Madsen, moved to Schleswig-Holstein as Economics Minister in June in the cabinet of Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU).
