![\\"logo\\"](\\"/img/logo-dpa-factchecking.svg\\"/) *About ![\\"IFCN](\\"/img/ifcn-certificate.png\\"/) ![\\"EFCSN](\\"/img/efcsn- certificate.png\\"/) ## No scam # Law makes more than 100 percent voter turnout possible Sep 4, 2024, 3:51 p.m. (CEST) A voter turnout of more than 100 percent can seem strange at first glance works. A second look at the applicable laws shows that everything is doing things right. In a Saxon constituency in the state elections on September 1st In 2024, a voter turnout of 103.5 percent was officially recorded. In Social networks immediately became clear evidence of electoral fraud spoken. Because more than 100 percent voter turnout is also theoretical not possible at all. “You can't show that more clearly was cheated at this point,” it says in a video. Is that really the case? ## Evaluation No, the claim is false. The voter turnout may be due to the counting of postal votes from other voting districts is well over 100 percent lay. ## Facts A Luxembourgish Facebook post features a video with the caption "Fraud? 103.5 percent voter turnout in Saxony!” divided. Claimed therein the speaker said there had been a “really blatant incident” in Saxony. There A voter turnout of 103.5 percent was recorded in the city of Strehla been (01:45). “Firstly, that is completely unrealistic and secondly, that is mathematically not possible at all. And that leaves only the only one for me The conclusion is that there was either massive fraud here through postal voting or There is a total failure on the part of the authorities.” Full of indignation (“Old Swede, how crazy is that?”) the speaker says, This means that “more people voted than actually people allowed to vote”: “And that is fraud.” The speaker then leads his audience to the official website of the State Statistical Office of Saxony, where for The city of Strehla actually achieved an election result with a turnout of 103.5 percent is shown. “When I see something like that, I really lose faith in our democracy and in our elections.” The city counted postal votes for neighboring communities In fact, the numbers are correct. Just an attentive look at the im Strehla's election result shown in the video helps: There is a note there to see: “The community also conducted postal voting for Hirschstein and S Tauchitz through." This means that in Strehla there are also postal votes from two neighboring communities were counted. Because not every small town has one own postal voting point. This is not surprising either. The federal election law provides for the third Paragraph 8 expressly provides: “To determine the Postal voting results can be made by election officers and electoral boards instead of for everyone Constituency for one or more municipalities or for individual districts be used within the constituency; the order is made by the State government or the body designated by it.” Provision in the electoral law also used elsewhere Strehla was not the only city in Saxony that relied on a mathematical calculation Voter turnout was more than 100 percent. For example, it was also affected the community of Ralbitz-Rosenthal in the Bautzen 2 constituency. She counted them Postal voting results for the towns of Crostwitz and Räckelwitz - and that's how it came up 1381 votes from only 1320 eligible voters. Purely mathematically, this results in one thing Voter turnout of 104.6 percent. Another example was Schönfeld in the Meißen 2 constituency, mathematically even reported a voter turnout of 131.5 percent - with only 1,428 of their own eligible voters. However, Schönfeld counted the postal votes for the locations Lampertswalde and Thiendorf included. This is also in the official statistics noted. The voter turnout exceeding 100 percent is: explainable and completely legal. Self-appointed election observers can be biased The video distributed on Facebook also points out that: “The citizen network einprozent.de” complained that its “Election observers” in some Thuringian polling stations with fluttering tapes or Chair blockages prevented the proper counting of the Observing voices. The speaker does not explain that the so-called Citizens' network acts as a patriotic “resistance platform for Germans interests” and works closely with the AfD. After the election, it expressly thanked on its website Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke for the good cooperation. In the video The spokesman claims that the “election observers” are not directly involved were allowed to approach the counting table, “the electoral principle of the Massive and planned public harm”. According to the law, the electoral board decides on the process However, the Thuringian electoral law for the state parliament states in paragraph 32 before: “The election process is public. The electoral board can appoint people who: Disrupt order, banish you from the voting room.” At the same time, paragraph 40 provides: “The electoral board decides on the Validity of the votes cast and all questions that arise with the election act and in determining the election result. The Constituency committee has the right to review.” The legal situation leaves the electoral board with some leeway Deciding what could disrupt order at the polling station. Over However, any complaints to the relevant authorities also took three days Nothing known after election Sunday. (As of September 4th, 2024) ## Links Facebook post, archived Video, archived Strehla election results, archived Federal election law on counting postal votes, archived Ralbitz-Rosenthal election results, archived Schönfeld election results, archived Website einprozent.de, archived Thuringia Electoral Law Para 32, archived Thuringia Electoral Law Para 40, archived ### About dpa fact checks This fact check was carried out as part of the Facebook/Meta independent program Fact check created. Find detailed information about this program You here. Explanations from Facebook/Meta on how to deal with accounts that provide false information spread, can be found here. If you have any objections or comments regarding the content, please send them with a link to the affected Facebook post to factcheck- luxembourg@dpa.com. Please use the relevant templates for this. 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A voter turnout in Strehla of 1035 percent proves that there was fraud in the state elections in Saxony