Local elections in Lower Saxony: Over 250 AfD seats remain vacant

Leer district, Aurich district, Emden: A particularly large number of the vacant AfD mandates after the local elections come from East Frisia - there are more than 250 nationwide.

According to dpa, after the local elections in Lower Saxony, the AfD cannot fill more than 250 seats in municipal representations that it is entitled to. East Frisia is particularly hard hit: 24 seats remain unfilled in the Leer district and 22 more in the Aurich district. Three mandates will also be lost in the Emden city council.

The reason: The party won more seats than it fielded candidates. According to the Lower Saxony local election law, late registration is not possible - the seats remain empty until the end of the electoral period, as dpa reports.

For comparison: After the 2021 local elections, only 41 seats were vacant in Lower Saxony, and after the 2016 elections there were 54.

The current number is significantly higher than in the previous two elections.