What do the parties in Saxony say on democracy and the state?

The AfD wants judicial selection committees, rather than the justice ministry alone, to decide on hiring and promoting judges. It also backs federal initiatives to free public prosecutors from ministerial instructions.

Today the justice ministry decides who becomes a judge. The AfD wants to change that. A committee should choose the judges. Prosecutors should also no longer get orders from the ministry.

The AfD wants to expand direct democracy in Saxony and sharply reduce the number of signatures required. In addition, citizens would be able to repeal laws passed by the state parliament through a vote.

The AfD wants citizens to vote on laws more easily. Fewer signatures should be needed for this. Citizens should also be able to cancel laws made by the state parliament. This is called a repeal referendum.

The AfD wants to slow migration away from rural areas and give counties and rural municipalities more money and more room to decide for themselves. In the program's view, the state has handed them too many tasks without compensation.

The AfD wants to strengthen villages and small towns. Rural towns should get more money. They should be able to decide more on their own. Applying for funding should become easier.

The BSW wants to expand participatory budgets, through which residents have a direct say in municipal spending. In the party's view, this strengthens local democracy because people respect outcomes more when they helped decide them.

In some towns, residents can help decide how part of the money is spent. This is called a participatory budget. The BSW wants this in more towns. The party says people respect a result more when they helped decide it.

The BSW wants to secure access to justice for people with little money. Advice centers are to be supported and expanded, and legal aid for advice and court costs is to be better funded. Knowledge of one's rights should be taught in school.

The BSW wants everyone to get help with legal questions. That includes people with little money. There should be more advice centers, especially in rural areas. The state should give more money to help with court costs. Students should learn about their rights in school.

The BSW considers the number of rules too high and sees them as a burden on citizens and businesses. Saxony's Normenkontrollrat (regulatory review council) should therefore get more powers. It should also be examined whether the number of laws can be reduced.

The BSW thinks there are too many rules. This is a burden for people and companies. The regulatory review council checks the costs of new laws. It should get more powers. Government forms should be easier to understand.

With many retirements ahead, the BSW wants to attract more young professionals to courts, prosecutors' offices, prisons, law firms and notary offices. University and training places in law are to be expanded. The party supports digitizing the justice system as long as staff and technology are in place.

Many judges, prosecutors and lawyers will retire soon. So the BSW wants to win more young people for these jobs. There should be more places to study law. The justice system should become more digital. That needs enough staff and technology.

The BSW wants a full review of COVID policy and a committee of inquiry in Saxony's state parliament for that purpose. In the program's view, many measures had no scientific basis and did more harm than good. Official records are to be published and data on vaccine side effects analyzed.

The BSW wants to look closely at the COVID period. The state parliament should set up a committee of inquiry. That is a group of lawmakers that examines what happened. Agencies should publish their records. Data on vaccine side effects should be checked.

The BSW calls for an amnesty and rehabilitation law for people convicted because they helped others avoid the vaccine mandate. Fines for breaking COVID rules are to be refunded. Health care workers who suffered disadvantages because of the vaccine mandate are to be rehired or compensated.

Some people were punished during the COVID period. The BSW wants a law that cancels certain punishments. People who paid fines should get their money back. Some health care workers lost their jobs because of the vaccine mandate. They should get their jobs back or receive money.

The BSW wants a state law requiring that at least half of newly filled public-sector positions go to East German applicants when qualifications are equal. The platform argues that East Germans are underrepresented in leadership roles in Saxony.

The BSW wants a quota for East Germans. A quota is a fixed minimum share. At least half of new government jobs should go to East Germans. This applies only when applicants are equally qualified. The BSW says East Germans rarely hold top jobs.

The BSW wants to make citizens' initiatives and referendums easier in Saxony. In the platform's view, these tools are used too little even though they could counter disillusionment with politics.

The BSW wants to make public votes easier. In such votes, citizens decide an issue themselves. Today the hurdles are high. The BSW wants to lower them.

The CDU wants to found a research institute in Saxony that studies what holds a pluralistic democracy together. Its findings are meant to strengthen democratic resilience and give policymakers options for action.

The CDU wants to found a new institute. Researchers there will study what holds society together. They will also look at eastern Germany since 1989. Politicians should learn from the results. This should make democracy stronger.

The CDU wants to create additional positions at courts, prosecutors' offices and in the prison service, especially in rural areas. It justifies this with the goal of consistent prosecution and fast proceedings. It keeps closed confinement as the standard and retains fast-track proceedings.

The CDU wants more staff for courts and prisons. Young lawyers should find it easier to start. Punishment should follow quickly after a crime. Prisoners should normally stay in closed prisons.

The CDU wants to ease the burden on volunteers: through a flat-rate contract, the state is to cover GEMA (music licensing) fees for club events, the monthly volunteer allowance is to rise, and reporting duties are to shrink. Volunteers are thus to have more time for their actual work.

The CDU wants to help volunteers. Volunteers work freely and without pay. Saxony should pay music fees for club events. The allowance for volunteers should go up. Clubs should have less paperwork.

The CDU wants a "municipal freedom act" to give cities, towns and counties more room to act. They would be allowed to deviate from state rules in individual cases. The platform justifies this with the aim of rolling back regulation and what it sees as excessive standards.

The CDU wants a new law for towns and cities. It would let them decide more things themselves. In some cases they could set aside state rules. The CDU says there are too many rules.

The CDU rejects a territorial reform imposed by law. Instead it wants to support voluntary mergers of municipalities and new forms of cooperation.

The CDU does not want to merge towns by law. Towns should only merge if they choose to. The CDU wants to help them with that. Towns should also be able to work together more.

The CDU wants to expand citizens' ability to take part directly in decisions, especially at the municipal level. To that end, the laws on popular petitions, initiatives and referendums are to be reviewed and developed further.

Citizens should have more direct say. This applies mainly to towns and cities. The CDU wants to review the laws on referendums. Then it wants to improve these laws.

The Free Voters want to reorganize public administration: state agencies should handle only what absolutely has to be decided at a higher level. Everything else should be decided locally, under the motto of as little state and as much self-government as possible.

The Free Voters want to change how government offices work. Towns should decide more on their own. The state should only handle a few things. The party says those closest to a problem decide best.

The Free Voters want to lower the thresholds for citizens' initiatives and referendums and create digital channels for public participation. The state premier and ministers would serve no more than two legislative terms. The party expects better decisions and less disillusionment with politics as a result.

The Free Voters want citizens to have more say. Referendums should be easier to hold. Citizens should also be able to take part online. The state premier and the ministers should serve two terms at most.

The Free Voters want to introduce a so-called executive footprint showing which interest groups helped shape a law. The party does not see lobbying as bad in principle but demands transparency for citizens.

The Free Voters want more openness about new laws. Groups and associations often try to influence laws. This is called lobbying. Citizens should be able to see who had an influence.

The Greens see public administration as a service and want procedures to be faster, more uniform, and more digital. All government services are to be available online in one central place. According to the platform, this should also make investment easier.

The Greens want government offices to work faster. People should be able to apply online. Everything should be in one place. People should only have to give their information once.

The Greens want to use digital tools to make the work of the state parliament more transparent. An independent research service within the parliament's administration is to provide expert opinions and fact checks, making political debate more fact-based.

The Greens want everyone to be able to follow the state parliament's work. Videos and minutes of meetings should be easy to find. The parliament should get a research service. It should check facts and answer questions.

The Greens want to expand citizen participation at the state and local level, including through citizens' assemblies, an advisory office and an enhanced participation portal. The petition system is also to become more citizen-friendly. The platform argues that participation leads to decisions that better match needs and brings in new ideas.

The Greens want people in Saxony to have more of a say. There should be citizens' assemblies in the state and in towns. In a citizens' assembly, citizens discuss a topic together. A new office should advise towns on participation. Petitions should also be possible online.

The Greens want a Saxon democracy promotion law to secure long-term funding for civil society initiatives. Civic education, democracy research and research on coming to terms with East German history are also to be strengthened. According to the platform, democracy depends on such initiatives.

The Greens want a new law for democracy. It should give clubs and groups steady money. These groups offer civic education, for example. They also work against hatred toward people. There should also be more research on East German history.

The Greens want to set up a documentation center on the NSU in Saxony as part of a nationwide network. It is meant to commemorate the crimes of the far-right terrorist group. It is also meant to be a place for learning and for teaching democratic values.

The NSU was a far-right terror group. It murdered several people. The Greens want to build a center about it in Saxony. The center should remind people of the crimes. People should also learn about democracy there.

The Greens want Saxony's Transparency Act to also cover municipalities and companies in which the state holds a stake. Exemptions are to be cut significantly and information requests made free of charge. Non-confidential government data is to be published openly by default.

The Greens want the state to be more open. The Transparency Act should also apply to towns and cities. It should also apply to companies that the state partly owns. Asking for information should cost nothing. Government data should be open to all unless it is secret.

The Greens want the state administration to have enough well-qualified staff and to be a more attractive employer. This includes better training, an end to fixed-term contracts without objective reason, and a revised civil-service pay system. The administration is also to become more diverse.

The Greens want enough good staff in government offices. Training should get better. Short-term contracts without a reason should end. Pay for civil servants should be reworked. More people with a migration background or a disability should work there.

The Greens want to keep and expand funding for civil-society initiatives against anti-democratic and inhumane attitudes. The overall strategy against right-wing extremism is to be continued. The party wants firm action against enemies of the constitution in public service and to disarm right-wing extremists.

The Greens want to support groups that stand up for democracy. The plan against right-wing extremism should go on. Right-wing extremists should not be allowed to have weapons. Public servants who work against the constitution should face consequences. Jewish life should be protected.

The Greens want to improve training for the justice professions so Saxony can manage the generational change by 2030. A second site for training lawyers is to be created. Legal education is to become more digital and more practical.

The Greens want more young people to work in the justice system. Many staff will retire by 2030. There should be a second place to train lawyers. Exams should be possible on a computer. Legal trainees should be paid more fairly.

The Greens want to keep hiring many new judges and keep the justice system attractive as an employer. Digitalization is to go beyond the electronic case file, for example with an AI competence center. Courts everywhere are to get video conferencing equipment and Wi-Fi.

The Greens want enough staff for courts and prisons. Many new judges should keep being hired. Jobs in the justice system should fit with family life. Courts should get Wi-Fi and video call equipment. Artificial intelligence should help with the work.

The Greens want to revise Saxony's constitution, arguing that after almost 35 years it must reflect social change. Climate protection is to become a state objective, the debt brake is to be changed and the equality clause widened.

The Greens want to change the constitution of Saxony. Climate protection should be a goal of the state. The rules on debt should change. Children's rights should be added. The word "race" should be replaced.

The Greens want 14-year-olds to be able to vote in local and state elections. People from non-EU countries are to get a local vote, and the hurdles for citizen-initiated legislation are to come down.

The Greens want young people to vote from age 14. This applies to local elections and state elections. People from countries outside the EU should also vote locally. Citizens' votes on laws should become easier.

The Greens want a mandatory register for organizations that influence political decisions. Members of the state government are to observe a waiting period after leaving office before moving to the private sector.

The Greens want a lobby register. Lobby groups try to influence politics. These groups would have to sign up on a list. Ministers should not move straight to a company after leaving office.

The Greens want a new election law with a constitutionally permissible women's quota so that more women sit in the state parliament. The parliament is also to gain weight relative to the government and not be shrunk across the board.

The Greens want to change the election law. A quota for women should bring more women into the state parliament. There should be fewer voting districts. The parliament should stay the same size. It should be better able to check the government.

The Greens want a new functional reform to settle which tasks and funds sit with the state and which with municipalities. Councils, city districts and volunteer council members are also to get more rights and better conditions.

The Greens want to divide tasks between the state and towns in a new way. The money for these tasks should be divided anew too. Local councils should get more rights. Towns should only merge if they choose to.

The Left wants to reduce bureaucracy to relieve public administration and craft businesses. Authorities would carry out only spot checks, and in return penalties and fines for violations would rise.

The Left wants less paperwork for offices and businesses. Authorities should no longer check everything, only some cases. Anyone who breaks the rules should pay a higher fine. Funding requests should count as approved after six weeks.

The Left calls for a state commission to critically examine the work of the Treuhandanstalt (the agency that privatized East German state enterprises) after 1990. In the party's view, the Treuhand sold off public assets and contributed to deindustrialization and mass unemployment in the East.

After 1990, the Treuhand sold or closed the companies of East Germany. Many people in the East lost their jobs. The Left calls this an injustice. It wants a state commission to examine it closely.

The Left wants East Germans to be adequately represented in leadership roles wherever the state decides on appointments. It also wants Saxony and eastern Germany to get a fair share of new federal agencies and research institutions.

East Germans rarely hold top jobs. The Left wants to change that. The state should put more East Germans in leading roles. More federal offices should also move to the East.

The Left wants better working conditions, more co-determination and more new recruits in Saxony's public service. The background, according to the platform, is that more than 40,000 employees will leave by 2030.

Many state employees will retire soon. The Left wants to win new people. They should be paid well and have more say. Trainees working for the state should also get better support.

The Left wants a law on senior citizens' participation and senior councils in every municipality and county. Older people are also to get more meeting places, digital training and accessible public spaces.

Older people should have a say in politics. The Left wants a special law for this. Every town should have a council for older people. There should be more places to meet to fight loneliness. Older people should get courses for phones and computers.

The Left wants to give students and staff more say at universities. Academic bodies would have four-way parity, meaning equal voting weight for the four member groups, and elected bodies would gain more powers.

Students and staff should have more say at universities. All four groups should have equal votes in the committees. Students should also sit in the leadership. The university council should only give advice.

The Left wants to sharply reduce the number of signatures required for citizens' motions and referendum petitions in Saxony. Thresholds for local motions, petitions and referendums in counties, cities and towns are to fall as well. The platform argues that Saxony has the highest hurdle for citizen-initiated legislation in Germany.

The Left wants more direct democracy in Saxony. Citizens should find it easier to vote on laws themselves. Fewer signatures should be needed for that. This should also apply in cities and towns.

The Left wants to replace the current Petitions Committee Act with a new petitions law that allows online petitions and public hearings. It also wants the state's Transparency Act reviewed quickly and extended to municipalities and publicly owned companies. In the platform's view, current petition law does not make citizens' influence visible enough.

A petition is a request or complaint sent to the state parliament. The Left wants a new law for this. People should be able to file petitions online too. The government should have to answer quickly. Public offices should also be more open about their decisions.

The Left wants to add an anti-fascism clause to Saxony's constitution that obliges all state bodies to push back the far right. It also calls for permanent funding of anti-racism initiatives, tougher prosecution of far-right violence, and a documentation center on the NSU terror group.

The Left wants to write anti-fascism into Saxony's constitution. Then all public offices would have to work against the far right. Projects against racism should get lasting funding. Far-right violent offenders should be pursued more strictly. The far-right scene should have no weapons.

The Left wants to require accessible polling places by law and have the state help pay for them. Municipalities are to have full-time inclusion officers and volunteer inclusion councils. The platform points out that many barriers make political participation harder for people with disabilities.

People with disabilities should be able to vote more easily. Polling places should be free of barriers. A law should require this. Political information should be available in easy language. Towns should have officers for inclusion.

The Left wants young people aged 16 and over to be able to vote in local and state elections and in referendums. This is meant to give young people's interests more weight in politics. In the long run, the party aims for a right to vote with no age limit.

The Left wants people in Saxony to vote from age 16. This should apply to local and state elections. It should also apply to referendums. Later there should be no age limit at all.

The Left wants to set up youth participation forums in municipalities and at the state level that carry out their own projects and have a say in political bodies. Involving children and young people is to become mandatory under the municipal code.

The Left wants youth forums in towns and at the state level. Young people meet there and plan their own projects. They should be allowed to speak and make proposals in politics. Towns should have to involve children and young people.

The Left wants to refocus the training of lawyers and prison staff and create more positions at the courts. A selection committee would decide on hiring judges. More staff is meant to speed up proceedings.

The Left wants to change training in the justice system. A committee should choose new judges. Courts should get more staff. Then trials go faster.

The Left wants foreign nationals living in Saxony to be able to vote in local and state elections. The condition would be two years of residence in Germany.

The Left wants foreigners in Saxony to have the right to vote. They should be able to vote in their town and in state elections. To do so, they must have lived in Germany for two years.

The SPD wants to make it easier for associations and volunteers to obtain public funding and to give them planning security through long-term commitments. Programs such as "Soziale Orte" (Social Places) and "Orte der Demokratie" (Places of Democracy) are to continue.

Clubs and groups should get state money more easily. The promises should hold for a long time. Programs for local meeting places should continue. People should be able to shape their own town.

The SPD wants to push back hostility to democracy and group-focused hatred through prevention, exit programs and prosecution. Civic education and education for democracy are to be expanded.

The SPD wants to act against hate and enemies of democracy. Police and courts should pursue hate crimes, also online. There should be help for people who want to leave extreme groups. Children and adults should learn more about democracy.

The SPD wants to simplify funding procedures: instead of extensive documentation, there would only be spot checks. Those who break the rules are to face tough consequences.

Clubs, companies and citizens can get funding from the state. The SPD wants to make this easier. People then have to hand in fewer documents. The state only checks some cases. Anyone who cheats gets no more funding.

The SPD wants to set up regional groupings of municipalities that receive lump-sum investment funds every year. The municipalities would decide together how to spend the money, making them less dependent on individual grant programs.

Towns and villages should team up in their region. These groups get a fixed amount of money each year. They decide for themselves how to spend it. That way they need to apply for fewer grants.

The SPD wants to make citizen-initiated legislation easier and involve residents more through forums, citizens' assemblies and advisory boards. The petition system, youth participation and access to public information are also to be strengthened.

Citizens should find it easier to vote on laws themselves. The SPD also wants citizens' assemblies and forums. Petitions should become easier online. A petition is a request to the state parliament. Children and young people should also have more say.

The SPD wants to continue and strengthen the “Weltoffenes Sachsen” (Open-Minded Saxony) program, which provides binding multi-year funding for democracy projects. The “Soziale Orte” and “Orte der Demokratie” programs are also to be developed further and expanded.

Saxony funds groups that stand up for democracy. The SPD wants to continue and increase this funding. Meeting places in villages and neighborhoods should also get more money. People should come together there and do things jointly.

The SPD wants to lower the voting age to 14 nationwide. In Saxony, a constitutional amendment is to make this possible for local and state elections and for direct-democracy procedures. An overall strategy is also meant to strengthen participation by children and young people.

The SPD wants teenagers to be able to vote from age 14. This should apply in all of Germany. Saxony's constitution should be changed for this. Children and young people should also have more of a say in general. The SPD wants to make a plan for this.

The SPD wants to cushion the generational change in the courts with additional bridging positions. All courtrooms are to get equipment for video hearings. Mass proceedings in the justice system should be handled digitally.

Many judges will retire soon. The SPD wants to hire new judges in time. All courtrooms should get equipment for video hearings. Cases with very many similar lawsuits should be handled digitally.

The SPD wants to keep implementing Saxony's overall strategy against right-wing extremism and to prosecute politically motivated crime consistently. Enemies of the constitution are to be dismissed from public service. The domestic intelligence agency is to improve its analysis, and prevention is to grow.

The SPD wants to act against right-wing extremism. The state should stop far-right settlements and far-right rock concerts. Enemies of the constitution should not work for the state. The domestic intelligence agency should inform people better. There should be more prevention and education.

The SPD wants to give older people more political say through advisory councils, commissioners and a seniors' participation law. A Saxony seniors' academy is to train people who get involved. Meeting places, education and village shops are to secure inclusion in old age.

Older people should have more say. There should be seniors' councils and a special law. A seniors' academy should train people who get involved. There should be meeting places against loneliness. Village shops should make shopping possible in rural areas.

The SPD wants to ensure that public offices remain reachable through all channels, including by phone, as services go digital. The reasoning is that not all older people are comfortable with computers and smartphones.

Not all older people use computers or smartphones. So the SPD wants offices to stay reachable by phone. Letters should show a phone number. There should also be classes on using smartphones and tablets.

The SPD wants to extend the right to vote in local elections to everyone living in Saxony who holds a foreign passport. So far, besides Germans, only citizens of other EU countries may vote there. The rule is to be written into the state constitution.

In town and city elections, Germans and EU citizens may vote. The SPD wants to change this. All foreigners who live in Saxony should be able to vote there. This should be written in Saxony's constitution.

The SPD wants a comprehensive overhaul of the Saxon constitution, which is more than thirty years old. Climate protection would become a state objective, and children's rights and an enforceable right to education would be added. The constitution's reference to Europe and the promotion of democracy would also be anchored.

Saxony's constitution is over 30 years old. The SPD wants to renew it. Climate protection should become a goal of the state. Children should get their own rights in the constitution. Everyone should be able to claim the right to education in court.

The SPD wants to lower the hurdles for citizens' petitions and referendum initiatives so that people introduce their own bills more often. The state parliament and individual lawmakers would get more rights to oversee the government. Parliament would keep its 120 members.

Citizens in Saxony can propose laws themselves. They need many signatures for this. The SPD wants fewer signatures to be enough. The parliament should give citizens advice on this. Lawmakers should be able to check the government better.

The SPD wants to create a democracy promotion law that secures civic engagement for democracy over the long term and sets funding for it. In its view, democracy depends on people getting involved and must be able to defend itself against its opponents.

The SPD wants a new law for democracy. The law should secure money for democracy work. People who get involved should be able to rely on it.