Home » News » Suspicion of electoral fraud in the Thurgau Grand Council elections: suspect identified – GLP should receive the controversial seat of the SVP

Suspicion of electoral fraud in the Thurgau Grand Council elections: suspect identified – GLP should receive the controversial seat of the SVP

The investigation by the General Prosecutor General’s Office in Thurgau confirmed suspicion that the city council election was falsified in the town of Frauenfeld. Criminal proceedings are now being brought against a person known by name. This means that nothing stands in the way of the approval of the 130th seat of the Grand Council. It is scheduled to take place on July 1st.

The Attorney General of Thurgau, Stefan Haffter, had to count seven boxes full of ballot papers in relation to the fraudulent complaint in the 2020 general election.

Picture: Reto Martin

(pd/lim) The suspicion already expressed by the State Chancellery in its criminal complaint that the unchanged ballot papers were manipulated in the general council elections of March 15, 2020 in the city of Frauenfeld by destroying ballot papers from list 06 (GLP) and replacing them with ballot papers from list 09 (SVP) were clearly confirmed by the investigation by the Attorney General.

As an interim result, it is now clear that a minimum of 86 and a maximum of 99 unchanged ballot papers of the GLP have been destroyed and replaced by unchanged ballot papers of the SVP, according to a media release from the Attorney General.

“In the 639 SVP ballot papers that are still physically unchanged today, anomalies were found that, on closer inspection, can already be recognized by the naked eye and underpinned by forensic technology,” it continues.

Relocation: GLP gets the seat of the SVP

Taking this into account, which has now been confirmed by the Attorney General, leads to a relocation. The Office of the Grand Council wrote in a message: A seat on List 09 (SVP) goes to List 06 (glp). This result remains unchanged within the confirmed manipulated 86 to 99 ballot papers.

The GLP is very satisfied. GLP Group President Ueli Fisch writes on Twitter: So now it is clear and GLP Thurgau is very pleased that Marco Rüegg will join the GLP Group from July 1st.

Investigations are still ongoing

For reasons of investigation tactics, however, no further details could be given at the present time, since the investigations are still ongoing and no knowledge of the perpetrator may be disclosed at the current stage of the proceedings. “It is still the goal of the Attorney General’s Office to convict the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”

The Attorney General’s Office opened criminal proceedings against unknown persons on April 2, 2020 on suspicion of fraudulent voting. On June 12, the status of the accused changed from unknown to a known person in criminal proceedings.

For reasons of personal protection, because the presumption of innocence still applies and due to the fact that the public prosecutor’s preliminary proceedings are not public, no further information can be given about this accused person, it is said.

Approval on July 1st

Nothing stands in the way of the approval of the 130th seat of the Grand Council for the 2020-2024 legislature. The Office of the Grand Council wrote in a message. It will take place at the next meeting of the Grand Council on July 1, 2020. The Office will send a message to the members of the Grand Council beforehand. If the Council follows the Office’s request, Marco Rüegg (GLP) will take the place of Severine Hänni (SVP) in the Grand Council.

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