In the city of Bad Reichenhall there is a suspected attempt at election fraud before the European elections. An unknown perpetrator is said to have marked ballot papers for postal voting in advance. There are several cases involved, said the spokesman for the Traunstein public prosecutor’s office, Rainer Vietze, on Wednesday when asked. “An investigation has been initiated against unknown people because no suspects are known yet.” Evidence is now being secured and witnesses are currently being questioned.
The city had announced the day before that in five known cases a specific election proposal had been ticked in advance. The affected ballot papers have been replaced; All further ballot papers would now be checked for integrity before being issued.
It was said that the returning officer and the mayor had jointly decided to file a criminal complaint with the criminal police. The incident was also reported to the legal supervisory authority and the state election authority. The city’s goal is to ensure the integrity of the election and maintain the population’s trust in the regularity of the processes.
“Especially in times when attempts are being made from several sides to undermine the legitimacy of democratic elections, such interference in the electoral process is certainly not a trivial offense and should be punished in the strictest possible terms,” said Mayor Christoph Lung. “We are doing everything in our power to investigate the incident and ensure a proper election.”
Since it cannot be ruled out that other ballot papers that have already been issued will be affected, the city has asked all postal voters to fully unfold their ballot paper and check for possible entries. If other ballot papers already contain crosses, please inform the electoral office about this; the ballot papers would then be exchanged.