Björn Höcke, an influential state-level leader for the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland, took the stage at a campaign event in the small city of Burgstädt in Saxony ahead of this weekend’s election.
German officials have prepared for the possibility that, due to the ongoing pandemic, up to half of the country’s voters will cast mail-in ballots in the general election—up from almost 29 percent in 2017. For a number of conspiracy theorists and right-wing figures, such statistics lend credence to their notions of rampant manipulation and deception.
While the Saxony-Anhalt allegations were spread primarily by individuals on the fringes of the AfD, the party has now embraced these ideas. In late August, AfD social media accounts began to feature campaign ads that echoed Höcke’s speech: “A mailbox isn’t a polling place,” they read. The party’s followers are clearly on board. I spoke to a handful at Höcke’s rally. None were willing to vote by mail and all believed the election results would be compromised.
Thomas, 53, who declined to give his last name, agreed that mail-in ballots could not be trusted. “It’s going to be manipulated, I’m 100 percent sure,” he said. “With postal voting, it’s easy to cheat.”
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