Saxony-Anhalt election observers report massive disinformation before vote

Election observers in Saxony-Anhalt found no significant incidents on voting day, but they described the run-up to the state election as marked by massive disinformation campaigns.

Stefanie Schiffer, founder of Plattform Wahlen, said the domestic and foreign campaigns sought to undermine confidence in the electoral process. The organization attributed several influence operations to Russian actors.

According to Plattform Wahlen, Russian propaganda networks including Operation Overload, also known as “Matrjoschka,” and Storm-1516 tried to discredit candidates from the CDU, SPD, FDP, Left and Greens in Saxony-Anhalt.

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The state elections were marked by massive domestic and foreign disinformation campaigns that were intended to shake confidence in the credibility of the electoral process.

The report drew on observation of in-person and postal voting and counting in 209 of roughly 2,600 polling stations. It also included an analysis of foreign information manipulation conducted with the Berlin-based research organization CeMAS, as well as discussions with election officials.

In response, Plattform Wahlen called for coordinated action against Russian manipulation and clear legal rules governing international and civil-society election observation in Germany. Schiffer said election authorities and supervisory bodies needed mechanisms to quickly identify, attribute and publicly name disinformation campaigns. The organization is supported by Europäische Austausch gGmbH and the European Platform for Democratic Elections, and says it seeks to assess elections independently under international standards, including those of the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

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Election authorities and supervisory bodies need clear mechanisms to quickly identify, attribute and publicly name disinformation campaigns.