Campaigning is serious business. And so the public prosecutor’s office was forced to check a speech by Markus Söder to see whether he had spoken out about voting fraud or publicly calling for criminal offenses. At a CSU election campaign appearance in Schweinfurt last Friday, Söder was quoted as saying that those present should go through the house on election day and ask relatives what they voted. Should they answer with “CSU”, they should be sent to the ballot box. If someone hesitates, one should say that they can still “take their time” and that the choice will not be made until a week later. Thereafter, three notifications were received. The public prosecutor’s office has checked these and has now decided not to “follow suit”. There is no initial suspicion, neither for public incitement to criminal acts nor for electoral fraud. Söder’s statement clearly does not give the impression of seriousness. “It was taken on its own and should be understood as a joke, given the overall circumstances,” judged the Schweinfurt prosecution.
Schweinfurt – Söder times funny – Bavaria
