A majority of voters in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have backed an Olympic bid in a referendum, state premier Hendrik Wüst said on Sunday, with around two thirds voting in favour in 16 of 17 municipalities.
The so called CologneRhineRuhr bid from across the region is now set to go to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), which will decide in September which of four concepts should be chosen to bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044.
Only the North Rhine-Westphalian municipality of Herten failed to reach the required quorum of voters.
Around 1.4 million people took part Wüst said, with turnout across the region provisionally estimated at 32%.
In Cologne, the “leading city” for the bid, turnout was 40.5%.
Turnout showed that North Rhine-Westphalia’s planned bid stood on a strong foundation, Wüst said. “Today is a day of lived democracy,” he added.
In 17 municipalities where the Games would take place, citizens were able to vote until Sunday. More than 4 million eligible voters were able to cast their vote exclusively by postal ballot.
North Rhine-Westphalia – Germany’s most populous state – is one of four contenders for Germany’s Olympic bid. Munich had already achieved a clear majority in a referendum last year. Hamburg is holding a vote at the end of May. Berlin is dispensing with a public vote.
Separately, residents in Kiel have voted in favour of being the sailing venue for an Olympic bid, with 63.5% backing the city.
Around 190,000 Kiel residents were eligible to vote. Turnout was 29.1%.
Kiel’s rival as a venue for Olympic sailing regattas is Rostock-Warnemünde.
Hamburg has already come out in favour of Kiel. Should Berlin be chosen as the main host city for a bid, the German capital wants to stage the sailing competitions in Rostock.
Whichever city or region is chosen to be Germany’s bidder still faces an uphill battle to secure a Summer Olympics with India, Qatar, Turkey, Chile and South Africa among those expected to also make a bid to the International Olympic Committee.
The next Summer Games are in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
