The Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office is investigating suspected election fraud and forgery of documents in connection with the Hessian local election on March 15. The focus is on the voter initiative ‘Frankfurt – Sozial!’, whose top candidate was former mayor Peter Feldmann. According to the authority, several search warrants were executed on Wednesday – at the apartments of two suspects and at their workplace at a Frankfurt association for social institutions.
According to the investigation, data from users of a home emergency call system was used to collect enough supporting signatures for the election proposal. The affected individuals were unaware that their data was being used, and their signatures were forged. In some cases, the alleged signatories were already deceased at the time of signing. Others were physically or mentally unable to provide a signature.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint from the Frankfurt electoral office, which noticed irregularities when checking the supporting signatures. The initiative itself had previously filed a complaint against unknown persons and distanced itself from possible criminal activities in a statement. When asked, the alliance said it had no further information about the allegations but emphasized: ‘The impression arises that we are apparently being prevented from excluding corresponding actors operating in the dark – who may be intentionally harming us – from the group and cooperation.’
In the local election on March 15, ‘Frankfurt – Sozial!’ received only 0.4 percent of the vote, thus failing to enter the city council. In parallel, police and the public prosecutor’s office are investigating another case related to the election of the municipal council for foreigners. This case is said to involve election fraud, forgery of documents, and voter coercion, exploiting dependencies such as employment relationships.
Source: www.faz.net
