2024-08-21 22:54:34
“Just give us a call”
Mailbox election campaign: Green woman shares cell phone number on the Internet
Updated on 19.08.2024Reading time: 3 min.
At first it seems like an oversight: Green Party politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt posted a phone number on X. But there is an election campaign trick behind it.
Green politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt has caused a stir with a trick for election advertising on social networks. On Monday morning, the Vice President of the Bundestag posted a message on platform X: “just call 0157/73719685,” reads the text.
Many users initially suspected an oversight or a hack, as the post has not yet been removed. But if you call the number, the post quickly turns out to be an advertisement for voting in the state elections in Thuringia on September 1st.
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The only answering machine that responds to the telephone number provided is an automatic answering machine, which Göring-Eckardt must have recorded herself. “Hello, this is Katrin Göring-Eckardt,” says the Thuringian native. “There will be elections in Thuringia on September 1st,” continues the politician, calling for people to vote for her party Alliance 90/The Greens – “for people, nature and Thuringia.”
According to Göring-Eckardt, voting for the Greens should have another effect: the AfD should not get a “blocking majority” in Thuringia, says Göring-Eckardt. “Let’s just work together to ensure that our beautiful Thuringia is governed in a stable and reliable manner,” explains the politician before saying goodbye: “Thank you and goodbye!”
When asked by t-online, Göring-Eckardt explained that the state election in Thuringia was “about a lot” – such as freedom, humanity and the climate, but ultimately also “about protecting our democracy and our legal system from its enemies”. That is why her party needs to be in the Erfurt state parliament, and she wants to fight for it: “And as of today, with a mailbox.” There are currently a lot of calls coming in, so the message may not be available at times, “but it is still available”.
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Just two weeks before the election, the AfD is receiving a good 30 percent of the vote in polls. An AfD government under Prime Minister Björn Höcke is not expected at the moment due to a lack of majorities and coalition options, but the party would still have great influence with such a result.
At the end of July, Göring-Eckardt had already warned that the AfD could block important decisions and paralyze the judiciary after electoral successes in eastern Germany. This could happen if the far-right party were to gain a third of the seats in the state parliament, a so-called blocking minority, the Green politician told the German Press Agency. She was referring in particular to her home state of Thuringia. “A lot for democracy depends on the outcome of the election in Thuringia.”
A new state parliament will be elected in Thuringia in September, as will Saxony and Brandenburg. The AfD is in first place in polls in all three states. While it was recently at around 24 percent in Brandenburg, it was around 30 percent in Thuringia and Saxony. With such figures, a blocking minority of one third of the state parliament seats is conceivable if several small parties narrowly fail to clear the five percent hurdle. In Thuringia, this could affect the Greens, who are currently at around four percent in polls, but also the FDP.
“The fewer parties there are in the state parliament, the more seats the AfD can occupy there,” said Göring-Eckardt. “The Greens in parliament are the safeguard against the far right.” This is important for the judiciary, for example. “The judiciary in Thuringia is facing a generational change 35 years after the peaceful revolution. Many judges and public prosecutors will retire in the coming years.”
The judges’ election committee, which is largely appointed by the state parliament, will decide on the successor with a two-thirds majority. With a blocking minority, the AfD can prevent replacements. “Then the rule of law will no longer be able to function properly,” said Göring-Eckardt. “This is not an abstract problem, but can affect every Thuringian.” A two-thirds majority is also required to dissolve the state parliament.