The Verwaltungsgericht Oldenburg has rejected an urgent legal motion filed by AfD politician Martin Sichert, keeping his exclusion from the upcoming district administrator election in the NDR in place, according to reports by NDR. Sichert, a 46-year-old Bundestag member who has held his mandate since 2017, had sought an emergency court order to force his inclusion on the ballot for the September 13 election, or alternatively to compel a fresh decision from the electoral committee before voters go to the polls, as detailed by ZEIT.
Oldenburg Administrative Court Rejects Sichert’s Urgent Motion
The court ruled that pre-election judicial review of electoral procedures is strictly limited, explaining that disputes directly concerning the voting process must generally be pursued via post-election electoral review proceedings rather than through urgent interventions beforehand, as reported by ZEIT. The chamber found no obvious errors in the proceedings or any defect that would render the subsequent election invalid, noting further that the decision is not yet legally binding and that Sichert can appeal to the Niedersächsisches Oberverwaltungsgericht, according to ZEIT and NDR.
Electoral Committee Cites Doubts Over Constitutional Loyalty
The underlying exclusion stems from a July 21 vote by the Friesland district electoral committee, which rejected Sichert’s candidacy by a 5-1 margin following a recommendation from the Niedersächsisches Innenministerium, as noted by Epochtimes. The committee concluded that Sichert did not offer the necessary guarantee of standing up for the free democratic basic order at all times, relying on an evaluation transmitted by the state interior ministry acting as local supervisory authority after it gathered findings from the Verfassungsschutz, according to ZEIT.
According to NDR, officials identified a minimizing statement regarding National Socialism, recognized an ethnopluralist worldview characteristic of the right-wing extremist Neue Rechte movement, and noted suspected migrant, asylum, and general hostility toward humanity. Deutschlandfunk reported that the court confirmed the vetting was not based solely on Sichert’s party membership or functions such as his role as district chairman and Bundestag mandate, but also incorporated numerous personal public statements and activities. ZEIT added that committee members were explicitly informed that the state’s assessment was non-binding and that Sichert had been given the opportunity to respond to the allegations.
Broader Crackdown on AfD Candidates Across Lower Saxony
Sichert’s case is part of a broader wave of disqualifications affecting Alternative for Germany candidates across Lower Saxony, where four AfD applicants have been barred from participating in upcoming local elections, as outlined by NDR. On the same day as the Oldenburg ruling, the Verwaltungsgericht Lüneburg dismissed a similar urgent motion brought by AfD politician Stephan Bothe after his local electoral committee also raised formal doubts about his constitutional loyalty, leaving both men facing potential appeals to the regional high administrative court.
The exclusion decisions have triggered sharp political reactions and legal debate. Sichert voiced outrage on social media and in video statements, decrying the measures as a severe violation of democratic principles, while legal scholar Volker Boehme-Neßler criticized the pre-election disqualifications in an interview with WELT, arguing that membership in a legal political party is insufficient grounds to strip someone of constitutional loyalty, according to Epochtimes.
