Bank business economist Ruth Markert (Free Voters’ Association Wülfershausen/Eichenhausen) received an absolute majority in the re-election with 87 percent of the vote. The administrative community Saal an der Saale (Rhön-Grabfeld district) announced this preliminary result online. Voter turnout was 69.5 percent.
Markert’s predecessor, a 69-year-old former CSU politician, admitted to having manipulated election documents for the local election in March. He subsequently resigned as mayor. The approximately 1,300 eligible voters were called to a new election. Because the 69-year-old is also alleged to have altered ballots for the municipal council and district council elections in Rhön-Grabfeld, a by-election for these two bodies also took place on Sunday.
On November 3, Markert’s predecessor will appear before the Bad Neustadt/Saale district court on charges of election fraud. If convicted, the man could face a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine, according to the Schweinfurt public prosecutor’s office. The defendant does not wish to comment on the allegations, he told the German Press Agency. The presumption of innocence applies to the 69-year-old.
Source: www.sueddeutsche.de
