The pamphlet reads:

So that 2017 can become a year of change, many EinProzent election observers are on the spot. We have collected all the necessary information. We ask everyone to follow it exactly. We’re not looking artificially for mistakes, but we are watchful and expecting the worst. It is our right. Watch Merkel’s fingers!

Merkel, who is widely expected to win on Sunday, is the only politician mentioned in the pamphlet.

The website featured two main pieces of content: a PDF pamphlet with advice for potential election observers and a one-minute video clip calling for volunteers. The video portrayed vote-counters abusing ballots, while a presenter assures the camera that the system foolproof. The presenter ended with the words “Wir schaffen das” (“We can do it” in German), a phrase famously used by Merkel in 2015 at the height of the migrant crisis.

The video posted by wahlbeobachtung.de. (Source: YouTube)

The pamphlet provided assorted advice to election observers, including a call to demand a recount if a suspiciously high number of invalid ballots is found.

The original version (Google cache here, archive here) claimed to quote paragraph 31 of Germany’s Election Law, and stated:

During the handling, counting and presentation of the outcome of the vote, everyone has access to the voting hall, insofar as it is possible without disturbing the voting process.

Text-only archive version of the pamphlet, showing the incorrect attribution to the election law. (Source: archive.is)

This is a misquote: the actual paragraph 31, presented on the official government portal, reads:

Vote handling is public. Those in charge of voting may have people who disturb order and quiet shown out of the premises.

Article 31 of Germany’s election law, from the official website. (Source: Bundesministerium der Justiz)

The text was, however, drawn from an official document: article 54 of the German Ordnance on the conduct of elections. By noon, local time, on September 21, the online version of the pamphlet had been changed to cite the correct source.

Article 54 of the Ordnance on the conduct of elections, from the official website. (Source: Bundesministerium der Justiz)

By the same time, 306 Facebook users indicated they would observe the election. This is a small figure. According to Germany’s official election bureau, the vote will cover some 88,000 polling stations staffed by around 650,000 volunteers.

Facebook invitation to become an EinProzent election monitor, archived on September 21, 2017. (Source: Facebook / archive.is)

However, it raised the possibility that claims of election fraud could resurface on or after polling day.

Anti-migrant roots

The EinProzent reference (“one percent”) is to an anti-migrant and anti-Merkel website, einprozent.de, which calls itself a “professional resistance platform for German interests.”

Screenshot from einprozent.de’s “About us” page. (Source: einprozent.de)

It states:

The refugee invasion is a catastrophe for Germany and Europe. Politicians and the Media want to confront us with a fait accompli? We’re not gong to play along! We need a civil movement, a broad lobby for Germany. Our vision: thousands of members support our legal, media and political actions, spread information which cannot be found in the media and fight, in their communities, against the dissolution of our state.

A separate blog advised supporters to “be edgy” at political events, and to ask members of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) “why still more illegals should come to Germany, and why this is even in the CDU manifesto”. No other political party was mentioned.

It further advised voters to protest against Merkel:

Chancellor Merkel herself must find out that the time of peaceful, sterile election rallies is over. (…) Be creative, be loud and give a sign.

The group is active on Facebook, Twitter, and VK, and regularly posts anti-migrant and anti-Merkel material. Although its VK page insists, “We are not ‘right-wing,’ ‘Nazis’ or a ‘pack’.”

Screenshot of the EinProzent VK page. (Source: VK)

Its presence on VK is very small with 41 members; it has some 7,000 Twitter followers. On Facebook it boasts almost 63,000 followers; its most popular recent post, a video appealing for evidence of migrant crime, was shared over 1,300 times.

Screenshot from the Facebook post, showing its 1,370 shares as of September 21. (Source: Facebook)

The group repeatedly accused Merkel and her party, the CDU, of violating elections, tweeting the “Keep an eye on Merkel’s fingers” slogan as early as September 2016.

Tweet from @ein_prozent in 2016, using the same reference to Merkel. Archived on September 21, 2017. (Source: Twitter)

On August 31, anti-migrant magazine compact.de reported on the group’s call for observers, claiming the size of the German election implies “an enormous potential for mistakes and manipulation.” The headline was, “Criminal: This is how the Merkel party manipulates election results.”

Headline and illustration from Compact Magazine, sharing the same meme. Archived on September 21, 2017. (Source: Compact-online.de)

Despite its activity and support, the group had little impact until shortly before the parliamentary election. The September 2016 tweet was retweeted 24 times; a tweet inviting users to a talk on election monitoring on September 12, 2017, was retweeted 30 times.

Tweet from @ein_prozent on September 12, advertizing an event and a call to become observers (“Wahlbeobachter”). Archived on September 21, 2017. (Source: Twitter)

The Compact article was shared 1,300 times across all platforms. According to an Alexa analysis, wahlbeobachtung.de ranked the 38,704th most popular website in Germany; einprozent.de ranked 16,317th. By each measurable indicators, both groups had a small audience and low market penetration.