City council in Herzberg rejects AfD politician's objection to exclusion from mayoral election

The AfD politician Justin Vogel was unsuccessful in his election objection against his exclusion from the mayoral election in Herzberg am Harz. In its constitutive meeting, the city council in the Göttingen district rejected Vogel's election objection as unfounded by a vote of 23 to 5, as a spokesman said upon request. Several media outlets had previously reported on the outcome.

After the city council's decision, Vogel announced legal action on social networks. He plans to go to the administrative court.

Because of doubts about his loyalty to the constitution, the election committee did not allow Vogel to take part in the mayoral election. According to the city, the municipal supervisory authority of the Göttingen district examined the case and also obtained information from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The AfD in Lower Saxony is classified as definitely right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The party is defending itself legally.

This also affected AfD state deputy Stephan Bothe from the district election in the Lüneburg district, the Bundestag member Martin Sichert from the district election in the Friesland district and the state parliament member Thorsten Moriße as mayoral candidate in Wilhelmshaven. After the elections, the AfD announced that it would continue to challenge the exclusion of the four candidates.