Mayor-Elect Toppled Over Beer

When Ballendorfers went to the polls a few weeks ago, they narrowly chose Andreas Benz, a 45-year-old farmer, as their new mayor. He got 17 more votes than his opponent, Manfred Schlumpberger, an electrician from neighboring Heuchlingen. (In Germany, people don't have to be residents of a town to run for office there.)

The narrow outcome of the election caused county officials in nearby Ulm to listen carefully, when an unnamed informant -- not Schlumpberger -- told them what had happened during Ballendorf's election campaign. After all, Benz may have won the election because he paid for beer and gave money to a local group, as the informant had told officials.

The mayor-elect readily confirmed and clarified the facts: Over the course of two nights, he had bought 21 beers for people in Ballendorf's sports and singing clubs. He had also given €50 ($60) to a youth group to repair the roof of their meeting place. "That's how it's done," he told DW-WORLD.

"This is crazy"

Calling it an illegal attempt to influence voters, the county's election officials annulled the vote and the district attorney's office announced it would investigate the case. In the worst case scenario, Benz could be punished with five years in prison for bribing voters.

"This is crazy," Benz said, adding that neither he nor many other Ballendorfers could understand the authorities. "It's not surprising that nothing works in this country any more. Don't people have other things to worry about?"

Ballendorfers will now have to choose a new mayor again, by September at the latest. Benz said he hasn't decided whether he's going to run for office again and added that he first has to digest what's been happening. One thing's for certain, though: It's going to be a very dry campaign.