Marcus Hoffmann narrowly wins mayoral runoff in Aue-Bad Schlema against far-right candidate

Reactions of the candidates

Aue-Bad Schlema is a small town with fewer than 19,000 inhabitants that was formed in 2019 through a merger. In the first round, Hartung had come in fourth; Tony Neuß (Die Linke) had also run. In the runoff, Hoffmann and Hartung ultimately faced each other directly.

After his election victory, Hoffmann spoke of a rollercoaster of emotions. „Es war schon ein Wechselbad der Gefühle“, he said, referring to the fluctuating course of the count. „Ich bin glücklich, dass es am Ende gereicht hat.“ For the next seven years, he announced a plan for the town: „Daraus müsse dann ein Konzept für die nächsten 7 Jahre gestrickt werden."

The incumbent mayor, Heinrich Kohl, congratulated Hoffmann in private and said he did not wish to comment further until the municipal election committee has established the official result. Only then will the election become legally final.

Allegations and postal voting affair

Stefan Hartung is vice chairman of the Freie Sachsen and a member of the NPD, which now calls itself „Die Heimat". According to his own account, he joined the NPD back in 2005 as a young adult. Before the Pegida movement was founded, he organized a torchlight march against an asylum seekers' accommodation. He already holds seats on the city council and the district council of Aue-Bad Schlema.

In his response to the defeat, Hartung congratulated his opponent. „Natürlich habe ich Marcus Hoffmann zur Wahl gratuliert und hoffe auch darauf, dass er im Sinne unserer Stadt ein glückliches Händchen unter Beweis stellen wird und wir auch im Stadtrat gut miteinander zusammenarbeiten können", he said. At the same time, he expressed his conviction that many voters had voted primarily against him rather than for Hoffmann. „Weil er letztlich ja dafür gewählt wurde, von vielen, um mich zu verhindern. Also, er ist nicht für sich und sein Programm gewählt worden von vielen, sondern man hat ihn auch zur Not heraus gewählt." At 47.3 percent, he still sees his result as a form of recognition: „Ich bin natürlich insofern traurig, dass die Wahl nicht komplett gewonnen ist, aber ich bin trotzdem sehr glücklich über dieses Wahlergebnis."

Martin Kohlmann, chairman of the Freie Sachsen, criticized the course of the campaign and the environment surrounding the vote. He spoke of constant media influence and of rumors suggesting that, even in the event of a victory, Hartung would not have been admitted as mayor due to doubts about his loyalty to the constitution. „Also das sind natürlich alles Beeinflussungen von außen, die mit einem Fairplay nicht viel zu tun haben", said Kohlmann. He also stated that the Freie Sachsen had photographically documented that a postal ballot box had not been sealed. „Es gab ja eine Wahlurne bei der Briefwahl, das haben wir auch fotografisch dokumentiert, die nicht versiegelt war. Wir prüfen das."

Background: Loyalty to the constitution and civil service law

The context is the question of loyalty to the constitution, which is required by law for civil servants in Germany. The Civil Service Status Act and the Saxon Civil Service Act demand this loyalty to the free democratic basic order. Full-time mayors in Germany are elected officials and are therefore civil servants for the duration of their term. In the event of Hartung's election, according to information from the Erzgebirgskreis report, the responsible authority would have been in charge of reviewing the matter and potentially rejecting it.

The Federal Constitutional Court did not ban the NPD in 2017 because, in the judges' assessment, the party was not strong enough to achieve its anti-constitutional goals. The unconstitutionality of the party was, however, expressly not called into question.

Tony Neuß (Die Linke), who had run in the first round, commented on the result with the words: „Der Zauber ist vorbei. Jetzt können wir aufhören, uns über irgendwelche Schuldige zu unterhalten oder versuchen, Schuldige zu suchen."

The small town in the Erzgebirge thus emerges from the runoff with a narrow but clear vote. According to the statistics, over 5,000 voters cast their ballots against a town government led by an avowed far-right extremist. The final official result is still pending and will be determined by the municipal election committee.