OB election in Cologne: Eight candidatures rejected-who stays in the race?

OB election in Cologne: Eight candidatures rejected-who stays in the race?

In Cologne there is excitement about the upcoming local elections that take place on September 14, 2025. The election committee has determined the candidacies for the mayor election and other offices. Of the total of 21 applications submitted to the Mayor's office, 13 candidates were approved, while eight applications were rejected. These comprised six individual applicants and candidates of the German Communist Party and the Grunddemocratic Party of Germany. The reason for the rejections were partially missing signatures and declarations of consent, so t-online.de. A total of 1,819 applications were received by the city, including 56 for the choice of council.

The approved for the mayor's office are a colorful mix of different parties. This includes Berivan Aymaz from the Greens, Torsten Burmester from the SPD, as well as candidates from CDU, the left, FDP, AfD and others. The list also includes non -party applicants and representatives of smaller parties that could provide a fresh air. Here are the approved candidates:

• Berivan Aymaz (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
• Torsten Burmester (SPD)
• Markus Heinrich Maria Greitemann (CDU)
• Heiner Kockerbeck (Die Linke)
• Volker Görzel (FDP)
• Lars Wolfram (Volt Germany)
• Matthias Büschges (AfD)
• Dr. Mark Benecke (party, the rule of law, animal welfare, elite promotion and basic democratic initiative)
• Inga Feuser (Gut & Klimafreunde)
• Heike Flora Herden (Party of Progress)
• Ali Güçlü (independent)
• Roberto Campione (Kölner Stadtgesellschaft)
• Hans Mörtter (independent)

electoral history and challenges

The election committee also regulated the conditions for the council election, which will also take place on September 14th, and the election as an integration council. Around 813,000 Cologne women have the right to give their vote. The voters can choose between urn votes and postal voting, and the deadline for submitting the election proposals ended on July 7, 2025, at 6 p.m. This can be colorful cards that could influence the political landscape in Cologne sustainably, because the last elections to the city council have shown that local issues play a crucial role, as stadt-koeln.de.

upcoming election procedures and their determination are still publicly known in the press, which ensures transparent process. On August 1st, the election posters in the urban area may also be installed, so that the election campaign can really absorb speed. In the local elections, every vote has weight, because half of the city council is determined in half via direct mandates and the other half of the total votes from reserve lists.

AUS to choose!

If you consider the turnout, the trend in local elections is often lower than in the state parliament or federal elections. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how the Cologne population reacts to the upcoming election and whether new topics that affect the local concerns will drive voters into the urns. The local elections are the heart of the political participation on site, and with a total of 171 members to be elected for the city council and the district representatives, the mobilization effect is not to be underestimated, as is the [bpb] (https://www.bpb.de/themen/politis-in-in-in-deutschland/335658/kommunal elections