AfD candidates in Aachen: Choice Due to formal errors invalid!

AfD candidates in Aachen: Choice Due to formal errors invalid!

On January 30, 2025, the state election committee in Düsseldorf decided that the alternative for Germany (AfD) may not set up any direct candidates in the Aachen I and II constituencies. This decision follows a vote by the Aachen district election committee, which was already made on January 24th. The main reason for the rejection was a formal mistake in choosing the AfD candidates.

The candidates, Manuel Krauthausen and Markus Matzerath, were elected in a gathered general meeting. However, according to the provisions of the Federal Election Act, the election could have been made exclusively by members of the respective constituency, which was not the case here. This led to the choice of the two candidates declared invalid.

Legal opinion of the election committees

The state election committee confirmed the legal opinion on this day, which was already expressed by the Aachen election committees. In the said AfD meeting in December, in which the candidates were elected, the same people voted for the candidate for the city of Aachen and for the candidate in the Altkreis Aachen. This procedure violates the regulations that state that the voters of a constituency have to vote separately.

The consequence for the AfD is that on February 23rd it can only be selected with the second voice in the city and in the old district of Aachen. Manuel Krauthausen, who was supposed to run for the AfD in Aachen, also has a controversial past because he had to leave the police school ten years ago because of xenophobia and glorifying violent contributions. Markus Matzerath was intended as a candidate in the old district of Aachen; However, he left the AfD parliamentary group last spring.

background knowledge on the right to vote

For better classification of this decision, it is important to understand the context of the current voting right situation. With the new voting right that came into force in June 2023, significant changes were introduced. The aim of this reform was to reduce the German Bundestag and to ensure a predictable size of the parliament.

• Legal rule size of the Bundestag: 630 MPs
• Number of constituencies: 299
• voters have two votes: first vote for a constituency applicant, second vote for the state list of a party
• overhang and compensation mandate:
• five percent hurdle: Only parties with at least five percent of the valid second votes take part in the seat distribution

The proportional seats are assigned on the basis of the second votes, whereby the constituency winner need sufficient two tuning tests to get a seat. Most of these reforms were approved by the Federal Constitutional Court on July 30, 2024, whereby the five percent blocking clause was declared unconstitutional in order to take into account cooperating parties in the distribution of seats.