Fact Check: Claims of Election Fraud in Saxony-Anhalt Examined

False and misleading claims are raising questions about the integrity of the election in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. On Sunday, Saxony-Anhalt held a significant election, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) winning a decisive lead, potentially allowing the party to form the first far-right state government in Germany since World War II. In the days leading up to the vote, social media users alleged fraud, vote-rigging, and irregularities in the handling and counting of ballots. DW Fact Check previously documented some of these tactics as part of Matryoshka, also known as Operation Overload, a Russian-linked influence operation targeting German elections. The article examines several recent claims regarding the election. One claim alleges that "German election workers recorded themselves outright destroying ballots that were cast for the populist party 'Alternative For Germany' (AfD)." A video circulating on social media shows a man unpacking ballots and crossing out those for the AfD. However, the video appears staged, as all crossed-out ballots contain the same name and lack a required hole punch for accessibility. The Gnida Project, a Russian disinformation watchdog, identified this video as part of the Storm-1516 campaign, linked to Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU. Another claim suggests that the CDU is engaging in fraud, with social media posts alleging that deceased residents' accounts are being used for the CDU's election campaign. DW Fact Check reviewed several videos making these claims, which were posted by accounts with few followers and featured logos of reputable news outlets. One video falsely attributed claims to T-Online reporter Lars Wienand, who confirmed he had reported no such evidence. Julia Smirnova, a disinformation expert, noted that these posts are part of the Matryoshka campaign, which has previously targeted German elections. A third claim states that absentee ballots were counted before the official time, which was shared by a right-wing journalist. The claim was based on a screenshot from German newspaper ZEIT, which later clarified that their reporting referred to preparatory tasks, not actual counting. The Saxony-Anhalt state election regulations specify that ballots are not to be officially counted until the voting period ends at 6 p.m., although they can be opened in advance to facilitate later counting.