The CDU party congress in Stuttgart experienced significant delays on Friday, November 17, 2023, when technical issues prevented the planned digital election of Friedrich Merz as party chairman. After over three hours of delay, the election proceeded analogously with pen and paper to ensure the integrity and legal certainty of the vote. NRW Digital Minister Ina Scharrenbach cited "strong technical irregularities" as the reason for reverting to traditional voting methods. The original plan was to elect Merz around 3:15 PM, but the analog vote only commenced at 5:59 PM. Further complications arose during the analog vote, including a shortage of ballots for delegates from North Rhine-Westphalia. The congress also planned to elect the entire federal executive board, including General Secretary Carsten Linnemann and deputy chairpersons.