Voters are protected by the booth’s anonymity, candidates are not. Your protection should be improved.
Image: Frank Röth
In order to protect politicians, there should no longer be a residential address on the ballot paper in the local elections in Rhineland-Palatinate and in the European elections. That’s not enough, according to the City Council.
KLocal politicians are almost everywhere, “especially where you need them”. This is how Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to mayors from all over Germany with whom he met last year. “And what makes your work so valuable and indispensable – being close to the people – is exactly what makes you vulnerable,” he added.
Several studies show the extent to which public officials are harassed, insulted and sometimes threatened, especially at the lowest level of the state. Regular monitoring carried out by the municipal umbrella organizations in cooperation with the Federal Criminal Police Office came to the conclusion last autumn that almost every second official had experienced hostilities in the past six months. According to the survey, 81 percent suffer psychological or physical consequences. A survey conducted by the Körber Foundation among mayors in 2021 also came to the conclusion that more than every second person was threatened, 68 percent then changed their behavior – a fifth considered resigning from office.
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