Free Saxons Challenge the Mayoral Election Results in Aue

Following the victory of CDU candidate Marcus Hoffmann in the mayoral election in Aue-Bad Schlema, the far-right Free Saxons party has, according to its own statements, filed an objection. This was announced on Friday by Stefan Hartung—who, according to the official election results, lost the race—and party chairman Martin Kohlmann in a video that the party shared on social media.

In a 15-page letter, Kohlmann lists evidence of alleged legal violations. It is unclear whether the letter has already been received by the Erzgebirgskreis District Office. The “Freie Presse” had previously reported on this.

Absentee ballots had swung the result on election night

Hartung justified the objection, among other things, by citing doubts about the absentee ballot results. On the evening of June 7, these votes tipped the scales in favor of CDU candidate Hoffmann. He received 5,007 votes, while Hartung received 4,499. Hartung said that, in his view, there were irregularities. “We have been examining the events very closely over the past few days or weeks and have also gathered a great deal of information that was sent to us.”

Kohlmann, who is also a lawyer, lists several complaints in the letter. According to the letter, there are indications that the election was illegally influenced by “an outside person.” A doctor in the city reportedly wrote to patients and gave them a voting recommendation. Kohlmann claims this constitutes a data protection violation and may have unlawfully influenced the election.

He also calls for an investigation into what he considers an unusually high number of invalid votes in a mail-in voting district. Furthermore, a ballot box was allegedly not properly sealed.

Party Accuses District Administrator of Violating Neutrality Requirement

The party also takes issue with statements made by the CDU district administrator of the Erzgebirge District, Rico Arnold, who, among other things, described Hartung to the media as a proven extremist. The Free Saxons accuse him of overstepping his authority and violating the requirement of neutrality. The district administration must now investigate these issues, Kohlmann said in the clip released by the party. 

Hartung is an IT entrepreneur and served for years as an official in the NPD, now known as “Die Heimat.” He sits on the city and district councils and repeatedly organizes protests, such as torchlight marches against an asylum seeker shelter in Schneeberg. In 2021, he co-founded Freie Sachsen, of which he is the deputy leader. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the group is a “party-organized grouping of neo-Nazis, Die Heimat officials, and other members or sympathizers of the scene.” Their anti-constitutional activities were directed against the existence of the federal government.