Germany's Far Right Banned from Census Duties

In the state of Hesse, members of Germany's far right-wing National Democratic Party have been banned from collecting census data following its call on members to volunteer for census-taking duties.

The appeal by the Hesse branch to its members to sign-up for duties in order to 'draw conclusions about the mental state, the social problems and the political mood' of the people of that state is not without precedence; the NPD has attempted similar census-based campaigns in Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia in the past.

On the NPD's web site, the party said it would use the data to 'lay the foundation of a national-democratic 'market research' for the best way to address voters.' It also called on members to donate their expense allowances of between €250 and €1,000 to the party.

Waltraud Schröpfer, Director of Frankfurt's census office, said NPD members had now been banned because the law did not allow census data to be used for political reasons. The local statistics office in Wiesbaden will try to prevent NPD members from administering the census by giving priority to volunteers who work for public authorities.

Hesse's census begins on May 9th, when the state will send out 7,000 interviewers to 12 percent of the population to collect data.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.