Around one million people living in Berlin do not hold a German passport, 851,000 of whom are adults. They cannot vote in elections to the Berlin House of Representatives – and their political views are therefore largely absent from traditional election polling.
WahlheYmat created StimmlosTrend 2026 to make these perspectives visible. Inspired by the BerlinTrend conducted by Infratest dimap, the survey uses several of the same questions to explore how international Berliners see the city, what they consider its most pressing problems and how much influence they feel they have over Berlin’s future.
The results were first published by our media partner, Berliner Morgenpost. They point to a clear message: the lack of voting rights does not mean a lack of willingness to participate.
Among respondents who answered the voting question, 90.8 percent said they would vote if they were allowed to. Another 5.2 percent said they would do so under certain circumstances. Together, this means that 96 percent could potentially vote if given the opportunity.
At the same time, many respondents feel disconnected from the decisions shaping the city in which they live. 72.4 percent are somewhat or very concerned about Berlin’s future, while 73.9 percent feel they have little or no influence over it.
For 55.5 percent, these two feelings come together: they are worried about where Berlin is heading and at the same time feel they have little power to change that direction.
“The results show very clearly: Not having the right to vote does not mean that people have no political interest or do not feel responsible for Berlin. On the contrary. Many want to help shape the city, but feel that their own opportunities to do so are limited,” says Esther Nass, Project Manager of StimmlosTrend at WahlheYmat e.V.
Housing dominates the political agenda
When respondents were asked, without being given a list of options, to name Berlin’s most important political problems, one issue stood out clearly: housing and rents.
50.7 percent named housing and rents as Berlin’s single most important political problem. When first and second mentions are combined, the figure rises to 63.6 percent.
Other issues follow at a considerable distance. The shift to the right, racism and discrimination were mentioned in first or second place by 14.3 percent of respondents, homelessness and drugs by 14.1 percent, and transport and mobility by 13.9 percent.
There is an interesting parallel with Berliners who are eligible to vote. In the current BerlinTrend, housing and rents are also the most frequently mentioned political problem, at 32 percent.
This comparison is one of the ideas behind StimmlosTrend. By using several core BerlinTrend questions with identical wording, the project makes it possible to place the perspectives of people without voting rights alongside those of eligible voters.
A similarly critical view of the Berlin Senate
The two groups also come surprisingly close in their assessment of Berlin’s state government.
Only 15.8 percent of StimmlosTrend respondents say they are satisfied or very satisfied with the work of the Berlin Senate. Among eligible voters surveyed in the September BerlinTrend, the figure is 19 percent.
In other words, both groups take a similarly critical view of the Senate – but only one of them can vote on the composition of the Berlin House of Representatives on 20 September.
Engaged, even without a vote
Not having a vote does not mean not participating in society. More than half of respondents (52.4 percent) say they are engaged through family and friends, while 33.3 percent are active in clubs, volunteering or welfare organisations and 31.6 percent in their neighbourhood or Kiez.
Another 18.1 percent are engaged through work or trade unions, and 7.1 percent through political parties. Only 23.1 percent selected “none of the above.”
German skills and engagement linked to a stronger sense of influence
The results also provide an insight into what is associated with people feeling able to influence the city around them.
Among respondents with limited or no German language skills who are not socially engaged, only 6.1 percent say they have a strong influence on Berlin’s future.
Among those with good or very good German language skills who are also socially engaged, that figure rises to 32.9 percent – more than five times as high.
The data therefore show a clear association between German language skills, social engagement and perceived influence. They do not, however, establish what causes this relationship. And even among those who speak good German and are actively engaged, concern about Berlin’s future remains high.
A snapshot
StimmlosTrend was conducted as an open online survey from 11 July to 8 September 2026 and was available in eight languages.
The survey is not representative and its results cannot be extrapolated to all Berliners without voting rights. Participation was voluntary, and the sample is particularly skewed in terms of education: 90.3 percent of respondents who provided information about their educational background have a university degree. At the same time, a test weighting by age, district and nationality did not change any of the key results by more than 3.3 percentage points.
The project was funded by the Senate Department for Labour, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination as part of the Participation and Integration Programme.
StimmlosTrend is designed as a repeatable format. The aim is not to replace representative polling, but to add perspectives that are largely missing from it – those of people who live in Berlin, are affected by its political decisions and want to participate in shaping its future, but cannot vote for the Berlin House of Representatives.
Because no vote should not mean no voice.
(Header image: © Stefano Valtorta | Unsplash)
