Editing Cottbus (section)

==Governance==
===Mayor and city council===
[[File:2024 UEC Track Jun & U23 European Championships 001.jpg|thumb|Tobias Schick in 2024]]
The current mayor is Tobias Schick of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD) since 2022. The most recent mayoral election was held on 11 September 2022, with a runoff held on 9 October, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}
! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate
! rowspan=2| Party
! colspan=2| First round
! colspan=2| Second round
|-
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}| 
| align=left| Tobias Schick
| align=left| [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]]
| 13,300
| 31.8
| 29,526
| 68.6
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Lars Schieske]]
| align=left| [[Alternative for Germany]]
| 11,026
| 26.4
| 13,488
| 31.4
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| Thomas Bergner
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]]
| 10,302
| 24.6
|-
| 
| align=left| Sveb Benken
| align=left| Our Cottbus!
| 2,485
| 5.9
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| Felix Sicker
| align=left| [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]]
| 2,377
| 5.7
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany}}| 
| align=left| Lysann Kobbe
| align=left| [[Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany|dieBasis]]
| 1,621
| 3.9
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}| 
| align=left| Johann Staudinger
| align=left| [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| 716
| 1.7
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 41,827
! 99.4
! 43,014
! 99.1
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 260
! 0.6
! 383
! 0.9
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 42,087
! 100.0
! 43,397
! 100.0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 78,918
! 53.3
! 78,912
! 55.0
|-
| colspan=7| Source: City of Cottbus ([https://www.cottbus.de/opt/wahl/ob22/ 1st round], [https://www.cottbus.de/opt/wahl/ob22sw/ 2nd round])
|}

The city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}
! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD)
| 41,731
| 29.2
| {{increase}} 6.9
| 14
| {{increase}} 3
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD)
| 27,991
| 19.6
| {{increase}} 4.0
| 9
| {{increase}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU)
| 22,894
| 16.0
| {{decrease}} 1.2
| 7
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
| 
| align=left| Our Cottbus! (UC!)
| 12,938
| 9.0
| {{decrease}} 0.4
| 4
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (Die Linke)
| 10,173
| 7.1
| {{decrease}} 6.6
| 3
| {{decrease}} 4
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}| 
| align=left| [[Alliance 90/The Greens]] (Grüne)
| 7,066
| 4.9
| {{decrease}} 4.2
| 2
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters}}| 
| align=left| Active Citizens–[[Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters|Free Voters]] (AUB–FW)
| 6,195
| 4.3
| {{decrease}} 1.6
| 2
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| 
| align=left| Mittle Class Initiative Brandenburg (MIBrb)
| 5,881
| 4.1
| New
| 1
| New
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP)
| 2,926
| 2.0
| {{decrease}} 2.0
| 1
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| 
| align=left| Social Upheavel (SUB)
| 2,704
| 1.9
| {{steady}} 0.0
| 1
| {{steady}} 0
|-
| 
| align=left| Secure Future Cottbus (ZSC)
| 2,456
| 1.7
| New
| 1
| New
|-
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 142,965
! 100.0
! 
! 56
! ±0
|-
! colspan=2| Invalid ballots
! 769
! 1.6
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=2| Total ballots
! 48,820
! 98.4
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 78,002
! 62.6
! {{increase}} 6.3
! 
! 
|-
| colspan=7| Source: [https://wahlergebnisse.brandenburg.de/12/200/20240609/kreistagswahl_land/ergebnisse_kreis_52.html City of Cottbus]
|}