Crimes in connection with state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have increased significantly in 2026

According to the Interior Ministry, the number of crimes related to the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt has increased significantly compared to the 2021 election year. This indicates a change in the intensity of the election campaign and the political debate, said the ministry in Magdeburg.

During the election campaign for the state elections in September, the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) recorded 747 crimes; in 2021 there were 531 crimes. In 570 cases, election posters were damaged or stolen, compared to 489 cases in 2021. It was said that posters from the AfD, the Left and the CDU were primarily affected.

Threats, insults, physical harm

According to the information, of the other 177 registered crimes (2021: 42 crimes), property damage made up the largest proportion with 29 cases, as well as insults with 28 cases, threats with 21 cases, and simple and dangerous bodily harm with 23 cases. The use of license plates of unconstitutional organizations was recorded 18 times.

13 cases involved insults, slander and slander directed at political figures. Coercion (6 cases), slander and theft (four cases each) also occurred.

Many cases are still being investigated “Many of the crimes recorded are currently still the subject of ongoing investigations; There may also be late reports from victims or victims of crimes, so that the number of cases may still change in some cases until the criminal police reporting service for politically motivated crime has been recorded," says the ministry. The number of crimes recorded reflects the status of September 6, 2026, which was the day of the state election.

And this is what it looked like in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

A look at Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where a new state parliament was elected 14 days after Saxony-Anhalt, also shows an increase in crimes related to the state election campaign. By September 23rd - shortly after the state elections - the State Criminal Police Office in Schwerin said it had recorded more than 490 corresponding crimes. In 2021 there were 277 crimes in the combined federal and state elections.

The majority of crimes and the increase can therefore be attributed to damage or theft of election posters. Not significantly more posters were the targets of registered crimes in 2026 than in 2021 (around 1,700 each).

However, according to the LKA, there were significantly more advertisements this year in which only a small number of attacked election posters or even just one were reported. “In 2021, on the other hand, there were fewer advertisements, with a higher number of attacked posters,” said the LKA in Schwerin.