Six candidates from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have died in recent weeks before local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, according to police and party officials. Authorities claim there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths.
The deaths mean new ballots must be printed and some voters who already cast postal ballots will have to vote again, reports the BBC. Police told news outlet DPA that the causes of death were natural or were withheld at the request of families.
The AfD’s North Rhine-Westphalia deputy leader Kay Gottschalk gave a message warning against jumping to conclusions, saying, “what I have in front of me – but that’s just partial information – that doesn’t back up these suspicions at the moment.” He told Politico’s Berlin Playbook Podcast that investigations should move forward “without immediately getting into conspiracy theory territory,” while noting the need to respect grieving families.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, however, reposted a claim by retired economist Stefan Homburg suggesting the number of deaths was “statistically almost impossible,” amplifying speculation online.
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state with 18 million residents, is set to hold local elections on September 14 with nearly 20,000 candidates on the ballot. The AfD had been hoping for gains in the industrial Ruhr region, which has seen sharp job losses in recent years.
The 2022 election saw AfD receive just 5.4 percent of the vote. But in federal elections this past February, the party reached 16.8 percent in the state, raising expectations for a stronger showing this time.
The deaths have sparked social media chatter, even as officials stressed that candidates from other parties—including the Greens and Social Democrats—have also died ahead of the vote.
The AfD, which was classified by Germany’s domestic spy agency as a right-wing extremist organization earlier this year before a court appeal paused the designation, has become the country’s second-largest party. Its rapid rise has attracted international attention, including from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who recently declared: “Either Germany votes AfD, or it is the end of Germany.”
