Germany: Six AfD candidates die ahead of local elections

As many as six candidates from Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have died in recent weeks ahead of local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, authorities said, prompting the need to reprint ballots and for some postal voters to recast their votes.

Police have indicated there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous western state with 18 million residents, will hold local elections on September 14 with some 20,000 candidates running for office.

The deaths have stirred questions on social media, though the state’s interior ministry noted that candidates from other parties, including the Greens and Social Democrats, have also died.

The AfD, which became Germany’s second-largest party in February’s federal elections, has expanded from its eastern strongholds into western regions. The domestic intelligence agency classified it as a right-wing extremist organisation in May, though that designation is currently paused pending an appeal. In three eastern states, AfD associations remain listed as extremist.

Initial reports focused on four candidate deaths, followed by the deaths of two reserve candidates, prompting conspiracy theories online. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel reposted a claim from retired economist Stefan Homburg that the number of candidates’ deaths was “statistically almost impossible.”

Asked about the rumours, AfD’s North Rhine-Westphalia deputy leader Kay Gottschalk said on Tuesday: “What I have in front of me – but that's just partial information – that doesn't back up these suspicions at the moment.” He told Politico’s Berlin Playbook Podcast that the party wanted the cases investigated “without immediately getting into conspiracy-theory territory,” adding that they had to tread carefully with families who had lost a relative.

Police told Germany’s DPA news agency that the initial four deaths were either from natural causes or undisclosed for family privacy reasons. The two additional deaths have been described similarly.

AfD strategists are aiming for gains in the state elections, seen as the first test for voters since Germany’s new federal government took office. In May 2022, the party received just 5.4% in the state, an industrial region centred on the Ruhr Valley that has suffered major job losses. In federal elections last February, it polled 16.8%, and recent surveys suggest it could nearly match that result.

The party has attracted support from several high-profile U.S. figures on the right who allege that the German government is attempting to suppress the AfD. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who endorsed the party’s migration policies earlier this year, reiterated his support recently, saying: “Either Germany votes AfD, or it is the end of Germany.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev