Pirate Lost Mayoral Election in Saarlouis, Germany | PirateTimes

Posted: September 30, 2012/Under: Anton Nordenfur, Creator, Election, News/By: Anton Nordenfur

Pirate Lost Mayoral Election in Saarlouis, Germany

September 30, 2012 · by Anton Nordenfur · in Election

In Sunday’s mayoral election in Saarlouis, Germany, the Pirate candidate ended up with 3.2 % of the votes, losing to the incumbent mayor.

Pirate candidate Thomas Brockmann.
CC Thomas Brockmann.

The Pirate candidate was Thomas Brockmann, 50, a freelance journalist who was seeking to bring more transparency and citizen participation to Saarlouis. Brockmann also suggested city projects for the citizens, such as a public swimming pool.

Due to low funds, Brockmann’s campaign was much smaller than those of his opponents, costing about €1,000 in total. In comparison, Christian democrat candidate Marion Jost’s campaign cost €15,000, while incumbent mayor, social democrat Roland Henz spent €25,000.

Mayoral elections in Saarlouis have seen declining turnouts since the 1980’s, which the incumbent mayor acknowledged in a post earlier this week, in which he encouraged citizens to vote. At the Saarland state elections earlier this year (at which the Pirate Party gained four seats), only 61 % voted. The turnout at Sunday’s elections was a mere 43 % according to SR Online.

Featured image is CC BY Piratenpartei Deutschland.

About Anton Nordenfur

I’m party organiser for the Swedish Pirate Party, and work as a freelancing writer and translator. I’m primarily interested in research politics and LGBTQ rights, and blog in Swedish over at antonnordenfur.com.

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Tags: Election Result, Germany, PPDE, Thomas Brockmann

- Alexandru Cornita
  
  I think the election should have been more advertisated by the Pirates.
  
  Just a hint.
  - - Anton Nordenfur
      
      Advertised how? They only had €1000 in budget.

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- Alexandru Cornita
  
  Via the Internet, making in easier to transfer it F2F.
  
  In the past, we knew every election there was going to be, with even a single Pirate in it, this time, many of us had no clue.
  And it’s not easy then vor the voters to know of the candidate, if they don’t see more support for him, especially when there are none money.
  - - Anton Nordenfur
      
      Ah, I see. But let’s also remember that not living in Saarlouis, it’s hard to understand exactly how much he was seen there, where it really matters.
      
      That said, we should get better at highlighting all elections internationally, and that’s one of the goals of Pirate Times. We plan to report on every election, even when the candidate doesn’t make it, and we also want to try writing an article ahead of time, discussing the situation and the chances of winning.