2027 mayoral election in Leipzig: First, you can decide who appears on the ballot paper

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Did you know that it is easier to collect the signatures required to stand as a candidate in the Bundestag election than in a city council or mayoral election? If you wish to stand as an independent candidate in the German Bundestag election, you can collect these signatures on the street, subject to a few simple formalities. If, on the other hand, you want to be elected to the Leipzig City Council or even become Lord Mayor, you’ll need to encourage people to provide these signatures at the relevant local authority office.

In this election, it’s almost like in *Animal Farm*: ‘All candidates are equal, but some candidates are more equal than others.’ In other words, an independent candidate who is nominated by a party represented on the city council or state parliament does not have to collect supporting signatures, whereas other candidates do.

In the election for the new Lord Mayor of Leipzig – or, at long last, a female Lord Mayor – this is illustrated by Dirk Thärichen. Having stood on 22 April 2026 as an independent candidate backed by a newly founded association, he was nominated on 30 May 2026 by the WVL – Wählervereinigung Leipzig (FREIE WÄHLER) e.V. as their candidate. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this; Dirk Thärichen is not a member of the Free Voters, he remains an independent. However, this nomination means he does not have to collect supporting signatures.

Consequently, this task now falls solely to Getu Abraham, Ralf Kohl, Fabian Schmidt (PdH), Lars Kulesch and Falk Fiebig (Volt) – and it is no easy one.

The public notice regarding the mayoral election on 21 February 2027 can be found in the City of Leipzig’s Electronic Official Gazette dated 31 October 2026. It states: “Endorsement signatures may be submitted in person at the Office for Statistics and Elections, Thomasiusstraße 1, Room 203, from the first working day following the submission of the respective nomination until 17 December 2026.”

Each of the five candidates mentioned above must therefore get at least 240 people to go there in order to appear on the ballot paper. The opening hours make this particularly difficult: Voters may provide their signatures – except on public holidays – from 10.00 to 16.00 on Mondays to Wednesdays, from 10.00 to 18.00 on Thursdays, and from 07.00 to 13.00 on Fridays.

For those in work, the only option is often the time slot on Thursday between 4 pm and 6 pm. This is certainly an obstacle for voters who would like to see candidates outside the usual party spectrum.

Let us compare this, for example, with the 2014 local elections in Leipzig, where signatures of support could be provided at the town hall, albeit somewhat hidden away behind a side entrance. The opening hours were also more convenient. “Postal voting centre, New Town Hall, Lotterstraße entrance (wheelchair accessible), Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9 am to 6 pm, Tuesdays from 9 am to 8 pm and Fridays from 9 am to 4 pm.”

Conclusion: It is too late to change this for this election, though perhaps the opening hours could be tweaked slightly. The city council should urgently choose a better location and more convenient times for the submission of supporting signatures for future elections. Unless, of course, those in charge want to keep the ballot papers short – which, in turn, would be a cause for concern.