BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s conservative chancellor candidate Armin Laschet https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/conservative-laschet-struggles-momentum-german-leadership-race-2021-09-21 was ridiculed on social media for a misstep on election day on Sunday, capping a campaign marred by embarrassing gaffes that hurt his popularity.

German voting regulations require that voters keep their vote confidential after they’ve left the polling stations. Laschet, who was casting his vote for his hometown constituency in Aachen in Germany, accidentally folded his ballot in an incorrect way and revealed which party he voted for, before putting it in the box.

Laschet voted for his party as per the election commissioner’s instructions.

On Twitter, the commissioner stated that “this does not constitute influence of the vote.”

It was no surprise that Laschet had cast both votes for his Christian Democrats (CDU) under an election system https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-election-electoral-system-exp/explainer-making-elephants-dance-a-guide-to-germanys-electoral-system-idUKKBN2GJ0KC that allows voters to cast one vote for a representative in the country’s 299 districts and one for the party they want in parliament.

Laschet spokesmen did not reply immediately to an email request for comment.

This blunder led to calls for Laschet’s vote not only to be invalidated but also ridiculed in newspapers across the country and social media.

On its website, the RND newspaper group stated that every German schoolchild knows that free, direct, fair, and anonymous voting is a right.

Sven, a Twitter user said that he had voted for Sven. Many thanks for not folding your ballots like Laschet.

Laschet has lost his chances of succeeding Angela Merkel in the role as conservative chancellor. He failed to prove to voters that he can step in her shoes after 16 year.

In July, Laschet was seen laughing while visiting a city that has been devastated by Germany’s most severe flooding for over 50 years.

He has a very slim chance of winning the election with his CDU/CSU conservative bloc trailing Social Democrats.