SPD politician resigns over Nazi symbol on ballot

Daniel Born (SPD), Vice President of the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament, has resigned from his post because he painted the nazi symbol (inverted swastika) on a ballot. Born stated in Stuttgart on Friday that he had "made a serious mistake and written a Nazi symbol behind the name of an AfD representative" during the election for the so-called Upper Rhine Council. He called it a "knee-jerk reaction." The "increasing familiarity with the AfD" leaves him "no peace."

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Following Born's statement, State Parliament President Muhterem Aras (Greens) demanded that he also resign from his mandate. She called his decision to resign as State Parliament Vice President "logical," adding that he "bears responsibility for his serious misconduct." The incident occurred on Thursday. Two AfD members of parliament were running for election in Stuttgart as deputy parliamentary members of the Upper Rhine Council, a cross-border political advisory body. During the vote count, the symbol was found on a ballot for AfD politician Bernhard Eisenhut.

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This caused outrage across party lines. Initially, it was unknown who had scrawled the National Socialist symbol on the note. Born admitted the "serious mistake" one day later. He also announced that he would resign from the SPD parliamentary group. "The dignity of the House as the heart of democracy must not be compromised at any time," he declared. The bitter truth for him was "that I caused great damage to the House yesterday."

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The SPD politician justified his actions by saying that he had been "intensely upset" by the actions of AfD members - for example, by the contempt shown by an AfD speaker towards transgender children and by the "subsequent chaos of parliamentary work during the elections."The AfD is a "certainly right-wing extremist party that despises democracy." He wanted to show "that votes for the AfD, no matter what the election, are always votes for right-wing hatred and incitement," Born wrote in a statement. 

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He knew "that many people will be very disappointed in me," the SPD politician continued, and apologized. Born, 49, represents the southwestern Rhein-Neckar district in the state parliament and has served as deputy president of the state parliament since May 2021.

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Following the incident, the state parliament administration initially filed a criminal complaint against an unknown person. Using or displaying the National Socialist symbol is a criminal offense. The two AfD candidates were not elected to the Upper Rhine Council on Thursday. The ballot paper, which was smeared with a nazi symbol, was not counted.

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