Do viral clips circulating on social media prove that AfD is missing on the authentic ballots in the city of Leipzig, Germany? No, that's not true: The publicly available sample ballot still listed AfD the day the claim began to spread. A press release from Leipzig authorities described what the videos showed as "fake ballots" and ruled out printing errors. As of this writing, the matter was being investigated by German law enforcement.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on February 18, 2025. It said:
BREAKING: EXPLOSIVE:🚨 ALARMING REPORTS: AfD OMITTED FROM LEIPZIG BALLOTS--DEMOCRACY UNDER THREAT! 🚨
🔴 Voters in Leipzig are sounding the alarm: ballots are missing the column to vote for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.
🔴 Multiple complaints have surfaced, yet mainstream media remains silent on this critical issue.
🔴 This raises a serious question: Are globalist forces so threatened by a potential AfD victory that they're resorting to election interference?
🔥 DEMOCRACY DEMANDS TRANSPARENCY--ELECTION INTEGRITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE! 🔥
📢 WHAT THIS MEANS:⚠️ If these allegations hold true, it signifies a deliberate attempt to sabotage the democratic process.
⚠️ Such actions could render the entire election invalid, undermining public trust in our institutions.
⚠️ It's imperative that authorities investigate immediately and ensure that every voter's voice is heard fairly.💥 The will of the people cannot be suppressed. Election integrity is the cornerstone of our democracy. 💥
🚨 STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS--DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY NOW! 🚨
@elonmusk
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Feb 18 16:58:28 2025 UTC)
The entry contained a series of videos that claimed to show authentic ballots printed to exclude AfD (archived here) -- a far-right party participating (archived here) in the upcoming February 23, 2025, federal election in Germany (archived here).
The "ballots" showed a letterhead naming a specific district: Leipzig I, (archived here), which includes parts of that city in the German state of Saxony and has a corresponding number -- 151.
However, unlike the publicly available sample ballot (archived here) for the district that listed AfD under number one on the top of the page (in this election, the order of parties is the same across all of Germany), the version circulating on social media began with a different party listed under number two while AfD or its candidate was nowhere to be found:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Feb 18 17:57:11 2025 UTC)
On February 18, 2025, the city of Leipzig issued a press release (archived here) describing what was seen in the video as "fake ballots." As automatically translated from German by Chrome, the statement reads:
... the ballot papers shown in the videos are manipulated election documents. Misprints by the city can be ruled out due to various factors. Among other things, all of the Leipzig ballot papers currently available were produced in one batch.
More than 140,000 ballot papers have already been distributed to voters through postal voting and there has been no such information from the public so far.
The city is currently examining what legal steps need to be taken as a result of these videos. All election workers will be informed so that manipulated ballots can be identified during the counting on election night.
On the same day, a spokesman for the Saxon State Ministry of the Interior confirmed to Lead Stories via email that law enforcement is running a separate criminal inquiry concerning the videos on social media:
The case is known to the electoral authorities in Saxony. Investigations of the Saxon State Office of Criminal Investigation are ongoing in all directions.
Read more
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims concerning Europe can be found here.
Fact checks about claims mentioning the 2024 U.S. election are here.
