Two prominent AfD politician who were struck from the ballot in Lower Saxony's upcoming local elections have failed in their attempts to secure a court-ordered reinstatement before voting takes place. Administrative courts in Oldenburg and Lüneburg both turned down urgent applications, ruling that objections to candidate admission decisions belong in a post-election review process rather than in the run-up to polling day.
Bundestag member Martin Sichert had sought to run for the office of district administrator in the Friesland district, while Stephan Bothe, deputy leader of the AfD's Lower Saxony state branch, wanted to contest the equivalent post in the Lüneburg district. Both were denied admission as candidates over doubts about their commitment to the constitutional order, and both turned to the administrative courts seeking interim relief.
The Oldenburg court dismissed Sichert's application under case number 6 B 4195/26. The Lüneburg court, announcing its decision under case number 1 B 76/26, reached the same conclusion in Bothe's case and relied on essentially the same reasoning.
Central to both rulings is the principle that decisions taken by electoral bodies which bear directly on the conduct of an election cannot be litigated in advance. Such decisions become reviewable only once an election has taken place, through a formal electoral objection. The Lüneburg court stated plainly that the law provides no preliminary legal remedy of the kind the applicants were seeking.
The Oldenburg judges expanded on the practical rationale. Electoral organs and authorities take a large number of individual decisions in the course of organising a vote. If each of those could be dragged before a court beforehand, holding an election on schedule would become impossible as a general matter. The Lüneburg court framed the same point as a balancing exercise, noting that in electoral law an individual's interest in obtaining judicial review as early as possible has to be reconciled with the need for a uniform, undisrupted and punctual election.
Both courts also addressed the argument that this leaves excluded candidates without recourse. Bothe had contended that he was effectively stripped of legal protection. The Lüneburg court rejected that characterisation, pointing out that if an electoral objection is later found to be well founded in a review procedure, the election can be declared invalid and the result corrected.
The Oldenburg court added a further consideration specific to Sichert's case: it identified no manifest defect in the electoral procedure of the sort that would render the vote invalid in any subsequent review.
In setting out its assessment, the Oldenburg court described the material the responsible district electoral committee had before it when refusing Sichert's candidacy. Alongside the findings of the municipal supervisory authority and information supplied by the state office for the protection of the constitution, the committee drew on what it described as a substantial body of public statements and activities personally attributable to him.
The court also noted that Sichert had been given an opportunity to respond before the decision was taken. Sichert's primary request was for an order compelling the committee to admit him as a candidate after all. As a fallback, according to the court, he asked that the committee at least be required to take a fresh decision. Neither request succeeded.
Lower Saxony goes to the polls in local elections on 13 September. A recently introduced provision in the state's municipal electoral law obliges local authorities to examine whether candidates are loyal to the constitution, and expressly permits them to obtain information from the domestic intelligence service for that purpose. The service classified the AfD's Lower Saxony state branch as confirmed right-wing extremist in February.
The Oldenburg judges saw no fundamental problem with either the statutory provisions on constitutional loyalty or the newly created vetting procedure, stating that no obvious constitutional concerns arise.
Sichert and Bothe are among several AfD candidates barred from standing by the responsible electoral committees. Neither ruling issued is legally final. Both men retain the option of lodging an appeal with the Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg.
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
