Overview
- Andreas Bluhm, a directly elected AfD candidate in Cloppenburg, returned a signed written form declaring he refused his council mandate and the city administration confirmed that refusal was submitted on time and is binding.
- The AfD won 22.29 percent of the vote and nine council seats in the municipal election, and Bluhm won a direct seat with 540 votes.
- Because the party did not nominate enough alternate candidates it can fill only five of the nine seats it won, leaving four mandates vacant that the AfD cannot occupy.
- Bluhm told local media he marked the refusal by mistake and said he is upset about losing the seat; local AfD leader Iris Hermes called the additional loss frustrating given the party’s shortage of candidates.
- Under local election rules a failure to return the acceptance form would have counted as acceptance, while a timely written refusal is irrevocable, a procedural detail that turned a ballot-box win into a permanent loss of representation and will reduce the AfD’s influence on the new council.