EU nationals and the Mayoral Election – which issues are important to you?

Residents in Oberursel cannot have failed to notice the large posters around the town with photos of the two Mayoral candidates on them.  The election takes place on Sunday, 21st June, 2015 and under certain circumstances, EU nationals will also be able to cast their vote.

Those conditions are:

• being a national of a country that is a member of the European Union
• being at least 18 years old
• having living in Oberursel for at least three months prior to the election date (and actually registered here, obviously)
• not have been excluded from voting in Germany, eg. by a judge

There are also some rather odd exceptions, such as those born in the Channel Islands, on the Isle of Man or on the Faroe Islands may be excluded from voting depending on when they were born and where they have lived since.  In any case, by the end of May anyone who is eligible to vote should have received their polling cards (Wahlbenachrichtigung).  If not, call the electoral office on 06171 502-270 or write to wahlamt@oberursel.de immediately, as the electoral roll effectively closes 16 days before the election.

Hans-Georg Brum (left) and Thorsten Schorr (right)

Who is standing?

The are two candidates standing for election.  The present incumbent Hans-Georg Brum (SPD) who has held the post for the past 12 years, and the town treasurer Thorsten Schorr (CDU), who also happened to be the opponent 12 years ago.  The winner will remain in office until 2021.

Which policies affect me as an EU national?

That is a very good question.  Of course, many of the policies being discussed affect both local German nationals just as much as they do their EU counterparts, and there has been a lot of press coverage in the past months about a number of them.  But how many of the approximately 2,000 EU nationals in the town read the German press?  And what are the topics that interest or affect them in particular?  Are there topics that only affect foreigners in the town?

To find out, I have arranged to interview both candidates at the beginning of June.  Time allowing I will be putting the same set of questions to each of them individually (in German), and then reporting back in English on what they tell me.

But to do this, I need questions.  So, for all the foreigners in Oberursel reading this….

What would you like me to ask the candidates?

Please leave a message in the comments below, or write to oberursel@allthingsgerman.net, or use the contact form.

The closing date for submissions is Monday, 1st June, 2015.

The candidates’ answers should be on this website in the second week of June, so keep an eye on the front page, or better still: sign up to the e-mail updates using the form in the right-hand column.