19 parties and political associations are allowed to stand in the state elections in Bavaria on October 8th. In addition to the six parties established in the state parliament, 13 other political associations have been approved for the state elections, said state returning officer Tomas Gößl after a meeting of the state election committee on Friday in Munich. This means that there is one party more on the ballot papers than in the 2018 election.
The state election committee had previously checked the formalities of 15 requests to participate in the election. Only parties or political associations that are not continuously represented in the Bundestag or in the Landtag have to submit an application for admission to the Land Returning Officer. The following six parties are currently represented in the state parliament: CSU, SPD, Greens, FDP, Freie Wahler and AfD, while the Left Party is represented in the Bundestag.
The aim of the formal check is to enable serious choices on the ballot paper, said Gößl. Three parties were not allowed to vote: the Pirate Party, the Ethical Social Party of Germany and the Christian European Union People’s Party. On the other hand – to the delight of the members present – small, rather exotic parties such as the Anarchist Pogo Party in Germany (APPD), which, complete with tattoos and piercings, stand for left-wing politics “for social parasites”, were also admitted. The party for labour, the rule of law, animal protection, the promotion of elites and a grassroots democratic initiative (Die PARTEI) is also allowed to compete.
The exotic candidates also include the party for conventional medical rejuvenation research and the humanist party or the party for change, vegetarians and vegans. But there will also be some well-known parties on the ballot paper, such as the Bavarian Party, the Franconian Party or the ÖDP.