Sven Schulze joins anti-AfD protest as right-wing figures hint at election fraud

Saxony-Anhalt's election may be small on paper, with about 1.7 million eligible voters, but it has become one of Germany's most closely watched state contests. The central question is whether the far-right AfD could take power in a German state for the first time since the Second World War.

Thousands of people planned to gather in Magdeburg for a demonstration against the AfD and a democracy festival. The event was organized by Saxony-Anhalt weltoffen, an alliance of more than 300 associations, clubs, trade unions, churches and initiatives. Activist Luisa Neubauer and writer Carolin Emcke were among the announced speakers.

A notable participant was CDU Minister-President Sven Schulze. He planned to appear at Domplatz as a guest "without his own political program," according to Peter Maxwill, who reported from the state CDU headquarters. The article presents his attendance as a signal: Schulze was forgoing a major campaign finale of his own and instead moving closer to an anti-AfD alliance with a largely left-leaning profile as he fought to retain the state chancellery.

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without his own political program

The AfD's stated goal was an absolute majority, with its lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund seeking to govern alone. Because polls suggested that outcome was unlikely, the party had begun raising the possibility of election fraud. Federal AfD leader Tino Chrupalla openly questioned whether postal voting was conducted properly, citing alleged conversations with care workers and relatives about cases in which someone had supposedly guided a voter's hand. He could not verify those accounts, but called them indisputable.

Siegmund likewise warned that residents of care homes must not be given voting instructions from a "left-wing or Green corner." He acknowledged, "We cannot prove it, but we all know how it often works." He urged supporters to register as election observers and watch the counting closely. The article also described the fraud claims as echoes of Donald Trump's rhetoric about stolen elections.

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We cannot prove it, but we all know how it often works.