Unintended Increase in Data Transmission of Voter Addresses

In a recent development, the city administration of Essen has confirmed the deletion of voter data following an error in the application of the law regarding data release.

On August 26, 2025, three political parties in Essen requested address data from the registration office for voter notification during the local election campaign. One of these parties, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), received more data than allowed under the law.

The data was provided to the parties under § 50 (1) of the Federal Registration Act. However, it was later discovered that in North Rhine-Westphalia, data release is limited to two age cohorts with ten-year age groups each, according to § 8 of the North Rhine-Westphalia Registration Act in conjunction with § 50 (1) of the Federal Registration Act.

Upon discovery of the error, the party was informed that the data must be deleted immediately. The party has assured that the data has not been used.

To prevent such errors in the future, additional administrative internal organizational measures have been taken. One of these measures is the implementation of a four-eye principle.

The error in the administration's application of the law has been identified, but it is not specified who will address or correct the issue. The independent data protection officer of the city portal assessed the situation as a non-reportable breach.

It is important to note that the transmission of data is fundamentally legally permitted, but the number of datasets transmitted was excessive. The error was in the administration's application of the law.

For more information, please contact the city portal's Press and Communications Office: