Election fraud

The electoral fraud , as fraud referred to is the deliberate manipulation of an election contrary to democratic principles to the election results in favor or disadvantage one party or the election to change as such.

In the case of election fraud in the narrower sense, the applicable rules are violated in order to achieve the desired result. There are also a number of methods of inadmissible electoral influence (see there).

Election fraud can be carried out or initiated by the candidates or parties standing for election, or by interested third parties, for example interest groups that stand behind a candidate or a party. Most election fraud is committed by incumbent governments .

Election fraud mostly occurs in dictatorial systems, which nevertheless carry out elections to increase their legitimacy , but ensure the desired result through election fraud. In democratic systems, election fraud can also occur, but should be prevented through the greatest possible transparency and multi-level security and control systems.

Methods of election fraud

Election fraud is an unlawful falsification of the election results that is concealed from the electorate, possibly also to those carrying out the elections or to the election management.

Voting fraud by individuals

Individuals can attempt to vote without voting rights, vote multiple times, or vote in place of third parties. A selection of options are:

If voters do not need to identify themselves when voting, people can try to vote under a false name.
If there are no voter lists for individual polling stations either, people can try to cast their vote in several polling stations.
If there is the possibility of postal voting, people can try to apply for and fill out voting documents for those not eligible to vote (mentally handicapped, demented people, people who have been moved unknown, people ready to sell their voting documents).
If you have several citizenships, you can cast your vote in cross-state elections (e.g. European elections) in several states.

If the voting fraud is limited to one or a few individual votes, the influence on the result of the election is small, and often even negligible.

Organized election fraud

Organized election fraud is carried out in an organized manner by the government, candidates / parties participating in the election or other groups interested in the outcome of the election in order to significantly falsify the election result. Possible methods for this are:

Voting fraud (see previous section) in an organized form

When the election fraudsters influence election workers in polling stations:
- Ballot papers for those who are not eligible to vote are filled out and the voting statistics in the electoral roll are manipulated accordingly.
- After the ballot box is opened, 'unacceptable' ballot papers are thrown away and replaced by 'acceptable' voting papers.
- 'Unacceptable' ballot papers can be made invalid by adding crosses or doubling the ballot papers.

If the election fraudsters can influence the authorities carrying out the election:
- The whereabouts of deceased or new entries of non-existent persons in electoral lists for which votes are cast by straw men.
- Used voting machines can be manipulated.

If the election fraudsters have an influence on the election management / election supervision:
- Incorrect allocation of votes to candidates when calculating the overall result
- Complete 'inventing' of a desired election result, possibly with manipulation of the voting documents and the voting slips sent

Indirect (indirect) election fraud

Indirect electoral fraud is not about falsifying an individual election result, but rather about shaping the (legal) framework in such a way that a certain party or a certain clientele (e.g. a ruling political establishment) go through without being noticed basic regulations such as gaining privileged access to parliament through gerrymandering or indirect statutory funding.

Prevention of election fraud

The most important control instrument is the principle of public voting (including § 31 BWahlG ), in which no one may be prevented from monitoring the legitimacy of the election through their own observation. If there are doubts about the legality of the election, the right to appeal and judicial review must be guaranteed. Since this was not the case with the voting computers used in Germany , the Federal Constitutional Court declared the Voting Machine Ordinance on March 3, 2009 to be unconstitutional. In this judgment, the previously unwritten principle of public voting was also confirmed by the court.

This question has been raised in the United States for a number of years , especially by New York media scientist Mark Crispin Miller. Due to many problems with voting machines, the state of Florida, originally a pioneer in voting machines, is removing all voting machines from elections. On May 3, 2007, parliament passed a law that stipulates the use of paper ballot papers to enable the votes to be recounted, as the 118 MPs justified their unanimous decision.

In almost all national elections, international election observers , e.g. B. approved by the OSCE to ensure that election observers cannot be intimidated again themselves. Your reports serve as important points of reference in assessing the freedom of choice and thus the legality of the election.

Legal

Election fraud is at least officially a criminal offense in most countries. In Germany this is regulated by § 107 ff. Of the Criminal Code . In dictatorships in particular, however, there is often a lack of an independent judiciary to effectively prosecute election fraud by the government.

In the GDR , too , election fraud was (formally) made a criminal offense (Section 211 of the GDR StGB ). The proof of election fraud in the last unfree local elections in the GDR by civil rights activists was one of the triggers of the change . As a result, u. a. Hans Modrow (then SED , then PDS honorary chairman) condemned as an election faker. In order to prevent any review of criminal charges for electoral fraud, the Federal Court of Justice also overturned the acquittals of the GDR's deputy public prosecutor general and three other senior GDR prosecutors against whom critical GDR citizens had reported after the local elections in May 1989.

Legal situation in Germany

In Germany, criminal offenses in elections are regulated in § 107 ff. StGB. The threat of punishment extends according to Section 108d StGB on European , Bundestag , Landtag and local elections , as well as primary elections in social insurance.

Influencing and falsifying works council elections is punishable under Section 119 of the Works Constitution Act .

Manipulation of other elections (e.g. elections to student parliaments , to the representative assemblies of chambers of industry and commerce or in associations) are not threatened with falsification, but as documentary offenses with a penalty .

In detail, the Criminal Code makes:

Electoral obstruction ( Section 107 of the Criminal Code) is carried out by anyone who prevents or disrupts an election or the determination of its result by means of violence or threats of violence. The maximum penalty here is a prison sentence of up to five years.

Election falsification ( Section 107a of the Criminal Code) is carried out by anyone who votes without authorization, leads to an incorrect result of an election or falsifies the result. The maximum penalty here is a prison sentence of up to five years.

Election fraud can also be committed by an electoral committee or election supervisor if he incorrectly announces or has the result of an election announced.

Violation of voting secrecy ( Section 107c StGB) is also a criminal offense and is threatened with imprisonment for up to two years.

The attempt is also punishable in each case.

Legal situation in Austria

In Austria, voting fraud is punishable under Section 261 ff. Of the Criminal Code (StGB). The threat of punishment extends to the election of the Federal President, the elections to the general representative bodies and to the constitutional bodies (representative bodies) of the statutory professional bodies, for general and direct elections to the bodies entrusted with the enforcement of a municipality, for the election to the European Parliament as well as for referendums and referendums .

In detail, the Criminal Code makes:

Election obstruction ( Section 262 of the Criminal Code) is practiced by anyone who uses force or dangerous threats to force or prevent another from voting at all or in a certain sense. The maximum sentence here is a prison sentence of up to one year.
Furthermore, electoral obstruction is punishable by imprisonment for a maximum of 6 months if the electoral obstruction is done by other means.
There is deception in an election or referendum ( Section 263 StGB) if an attempt is made to induce a third party to cast a different vote through deception. The maximum penalty is 6 months.
Dissemination of false news during an election or referendum ( Section 264 of the Criminal Code) that is capable of influencing voters or voters can be punished with imprisonment for up to six months.
Bribery of eligible voters in an election or referendum ( Section 265 StGB) is threatened with imprisonment for up to one year.
Active and passive buying of votes equals bribery.
Falsifying the result of an election or referendum ( Section 266 StGB) is punished with a maximum of 3 years imprisonment.
Anyone who votes inadmissibly without being entitled to vote or voting, or on behalf of someone else, is threatened with imprisonment for up to six months.
Prevention of an election or referendum ( § 267 StGB), maximum penalty 3 years.
Violation of the secrecy of the election or referendum ( Section 268 StGB), maximum penalty 6 months.

Legal situation in Switzerland

In Switzerland, voting fraud is punishable under Art 279 ff of the Swiss Criminal Code (StGB).

In particular, the following is punishable in Switzerland:

Interfering with and preventing elections and votes: Forcibly preventing an election or a statutory meeting or threatening to do the same.
Interference with the right to vote and suffrage: coercion or threat of coercion to induce an individual or someone to vote in a certain way or to prevent someone from participating in the election.
Election bribery : Active bribery to get someone to vote or vote in a certain way by means of a gift or the like. Passive bribery for accepting such a gift.

Election fraud: manipulation of the result or a collection of signatures for a popular initiative or a referendum .

Catching votes: Scheduled distribution, collection or completion of ballot papers, for example by distributing ballot papers pre-filled for a specific candidate / option.

Violation of voting and election secrecy: Obtaining knowledge of who voted / elected and how through unauthorized action.

Except in the case of voting, which is punished with a fine , the law provides for a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment for each point mentioned .

Web links

Wiktionary: electoral fraud - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

^ Fabio Ghelli: European elections: loophole in the EU electoral system. In: zeit.de. May 21, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014 .
↑ Election manipulation through constituency cuts
^ Judgment on voting computers by the Federal Constitutional Court (dated March 3, 2009)
^ Letter from Miller to the editor of the New York Times dated June 13, 2006, quotation: "The integrity of our elections is certainly not a partisan concern or a left-right issue, but a civic matter of immeasurable importance. If we aren't free to vote our representatives and leaders in and out of office, we really aren't free at all, whether we declare ourselves as Democrats, Republicans or independents ...... we're counting on the press to fulfill its constitutional duty to the people and make this all-important subject a top story. "
↑ heise.de: Voting machines: Florida is rowing back
↑ BGH, judgment of August 21, 1997 - 5 StR 403/96
^ Till Zimmermann: The electoral fraud (§§ 107a f. StGB) in the structure of the criminal law protection of popular sovereignty , Journal for International Criminal Law Doctrine (ZIS) 2011 (Issue 12), 982 ( PDF )
↑ So z. B. in the Munich CSU affair ; see. BGHSt 12.108.
↑ Article 279 ff of the Swiss Criminal Code

[zeit-2014-05-21-1] Fabio Ghelli: European elections: loophole in the EU electoral system. In: zeit.de. May 21, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014 .

[2] Election manipulation through constituency cuts

[3] Judgment on voting computers by the Federal Constitutional Court (dated March 3, 2009)

[4] Letter from Miller to the editor of the New York Times dated June 13, 2006, quotation: "The integrity of our elections is certainly not a partisan concern or a left-right issue, but a civic matter of immeasurable importance. If we aren't free to vote our representatives and leaders in and out of office, we really aren't free at all, whether we declare ourselves as Democrats, Republicans or independents ...... we're counting on the press to fulfill its constitutional duty to the people and make this all-important subject a top story. "

[5] se.de: Voting machines: Florida is rowing back

[6] BGH, judgment of August 21, 1997 - 5 StR 403/96

[7] Till Zimmermann: The electoral fraud (§§ 107a f. StGB) in the structure of the criminal law protection of popular sovereignty , Journal for International Criminal Law Doctrine (ZIS) 2011 (Issue 12), 982 ( PDF )

[8] So z. B. in the Munich CSU affair ; see. BGHSt 12.108.

[9] Article 279 ff of the Swiss Criminal Code