Overview

• The Ludwigshafen election committee voted on 5 August to bar AfD lawmaker Joachim Paul from the mayoral ballot over doubts about his commitment to Germany’s liberal democratic order.
• The decision rested on a dossier of Paul’s public statements compiled by the Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Ministry, which questioned his constitutional loyalty.
• Paul has lodged an official objection and plans to challenge the exclusion in court, arguing that the move violates the constitutional principle of equal treatment of parties.
• The six-member Wahlausschuss, composed of SPD, CDU, Free Voters and FDP representatives, includes no AfD delegate due to the party’s late nomination, heightening tensions over impartial oversight.
• The legal outcome will shape future candidate vetting standards and could affect the AfD’s bid to capitalize on its second-place finish in Ludwigshafen ahead of the 21 September vote.