Main residence error - Agriculture Minister unable to vote in European elections
Due to an error regarding her alleged main residence, Niedersachsen Agriculture Minister Miriam Staudte (Greens) was unable to cast a vote in the European election. A ministry spokesperson confirmed this to dpa upon request, following a report by the political journal "Rundblick".
According to the ministry, Staudte was on the move on election day, June 9, for the Day of Open Farms in the state, and intended to go and vote in her supposed polling station in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district in the late afternoon.
However, the minister reportedly did not receive a voter notification card. It was then discovered that Staudte was not registered to vote at that polling station. It turned out that she was registered in Hannover instead.
According to the spokesperson, Staudte has a secondary residence in the state capital, but the registration office recorded this as her main residence. By the afternoon, it was too late to travel to Hannover to cast her votes.
Staudte's voting issue occurred during the #EP2024 European elections in Lower Saxony, her home state. Despite being the Minister of Agriculture in Lower Saxony and a Green party member, Staudte was unable to vote due to incorrect residence documentation in Hannover. The European elections in 2024 also encompass other countries throughout Europe.
