Mayoral election - AfD man is the only candidate for mayor in Großschirma
For the repeat mayoral election in Großschirma (Mittelsachsen district), only one candidate remains: the AfD politician Rolf Weigand. He had two competitors from CDU and Independent Citizens' Association in the March election, but now, on September 1st, only his name appears on the ballot. Other proposals were not submitted, according to the town election committee after a dpa inquiry.
Weigand, who has been a representative for the AfD in the Saxon parliament since 2018, won the mayoral election in the 5,500-inhabitant community in Mittelsachsen with almost 60% of the votes in March. He would have been the first in Saxony to be elected mayor with an AfD party membership. However, the supervisory authority declared the election invalid later due to violations of election regulations. Therefore, a new election was ordered.
Mayors in Saxony are elected for seven years. If there is only one proposal like in Großschirma, voters, according to the communal election law, can note down another person on their ballot if they do not want to give their vote to the candidate.
The mayoral election was necessary due to the suicide of the long-standing office holder Volkmar Schreiter in the previous fall. Weigand had also run for mayor in the previous election but was defeated by Schreiter. Weigand has been serving as the first deputy mayor of the town since then. His party had recently taken control of the town hall in Pirna with their candidate Tim Lochner. Lochner himself, however, is not an AfD member. The Saxon AfD is classified as right-wing extremist by the state constitutional protection, but the party is fighting this classification legally.
- Despite having competitors from the CDU and Independent Citizens' Association in the previous mayoral election in Saxony's Mittelsachsen district, only the AfD politician Rolf Weigand is left for the repetition on September 1st, as no other proposals were submitted.
- In the March election, Weigand, a member of the AfD party in the Saxon parliament since 2018, secured a significant victory with almost 60% of the votes in the 5,500-inhabitant community of Großschirma.
- Despite having only one proposal in the upcoming mayoral election, citizens have the right, according to the communal election law, to write down another person on their ballot if they do not wish to support the candidate.
- Following the suicide of the long-standing office holder Volkmar Schreiter in the previous fall, a new mayoral election was ordered in Saxony, marking another opportunity for Weigand, who had previously lost to Schreiter.
