The newly elected mayor of Aue-Bad Schlema, Marcus Hoffmann (CDU), may not be able to take office until a later date. This is due to an objection to the election results filed by the far-right Freie Sachsen party, which had fielded the losing candidate, Stefan Hartung. The legal oversight authority reported that the letter was received electronically by the district administration office. “At this time, we have not received any further objections.” The deadline for filing objections runs until Thursday (June 25).
Who will continue to manage the municipal affairs in Aue-Bad Schlema?
Until then, the incumbent mayor will continue to manage the municipal affairs. In Aue, this is the long-time CDU politician Heinrich Kohl, who is actually set to step down at the end of July. Should he decline, the city’s deputy mayor would have to assume this role. Under certain circumstances, the city council can also initially appoint the elected candidate as acting mayor—as happened in Chemnitz in 2020 with Sven Schulze (SPD).
Hoffmann had defeated Hartung in the second round of voting in early June. In the neck-and-neck race, the absentee ballots proved decisive. In total, Hoffmann received 5,007 votes, while Hartung received 4,499.
In their objection, the Free Saxons list alleged legal violations during the election. Among other things, they express doubts about the results of the mail-in voting. They also allege that a ballot box was not properly sealed. The party further accuses District Administrator Rico Anton (CDU) of violating the requirement of neutrality. “Unfortunately, a statement from District Administrator Anton is not possible due to scheduling constraints,” the district administration office stated in response to an inquiry on the matter.
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