Overview

• The Wahlausschuss der Stadt Ludwigshafen voted by majority in early August to bar Joachim Paul from the September 21 mayoral election over doubts about his commitment to Germany’s democratic constitution.
• The exclusion rested on a confidential Interior Ministry briefing that compiled Verfassungsschutz assessments and Paul’s public statements as evidence of questionable constitutional loyalty.
• The AfD Landesverband Rheinland-Pfalz has filed an interim injunction at the Verwaltungsgericht Neustadt/Weinstraße to challenge the committee’s decision.
• Four candidates—Klaus Blettner (CDU/Freie Wähler), Jens Peter Gotter (SPD), Michaela Schneider-Wettstein (Volt) and independent Martin Wegner—remain approved for the ballot.
• Legal scholars and the Städtetag Rheinland-Pfalz stress that barring a candidate requires narrow legal grounds and meticulous, case-by-case vetting under municipal election law.