Hesse’s SPD rows back after push for voting rights for foreigners
Wants to become Prime Minister in Hesse: SPD politician Nancy Faeser
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Bernd von Jutrczenka
In its election program, the Hessian SPD called for foreigners to be allowed to take part in local elections if they have lived in Germany for at least six months. Now the party is rowing back: it was an editorial error – meaning six years.
DThe Hessian SPD has corrected a passage on reforming local electoral law for foreigners in its election program. This is about the party’s proposal as to when foreigners who do not come from an EU country should be allowed to vote in local elections. The election program so far stated a duration of six months, but this was due to a transmission error, the party announced on Tuesday in Wiesbaden. A period of six years is correct. A new state parliament will be elected in Hesse on October 8th.
The SPD parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament had already decided on a position paper in May 2022, the content of which was incorporated into the election program. “Due to an editorial error, the six years specified as a deadline in the group paper became six months when the position was transferred to our election program,” explained General Secretary Christoph Degen.
“The wording in the election program is simply wrong and does not correctly reflect the decision-making position of the SPD Hesse and the SPD parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament.” The regulation should also only apply to non-EU foreigners with a permanent residence permit.
According to the SPD, the error has now been corrected in the election program posted online. A note has been added to make the change transparent. Previously, among other things the “Bild” newspaper reported on the passage in the election program of the SPD and its top candidate, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser. Foreigners from EU countries have been allowed to vote in local elections in Germany for over 30 years.
The original demand from the Hesse SPD was met with sharp criticism from the Union, FDP and AfD. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), for example, called the six-month initiative an “absurd idea”. What is needed is “an effective restriction on uncontrolled immigration and not an expansion of the right to vote,” wrote Söder on Facebook. CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt said in Berlin that the move would lead to “further polarization” in Germany and would have a “negative impact on the mood”.