The turnout is high in the elections held today, Sunday, in two German states in Thuringia and Saxony, which are expected to bring the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to first place, a development that will change the political map of the country about a year before the federal election.
As of midday the turnout in Saxony was at 25.8% compared to 26.2% in the 2019 election. This does not include postal votes which are expected to be significantly higher than in the last election (24.6% compared to 16.9%).
The picture was similar in Thuringia, with a participation of 32% until noon compared to 31.2% in 2019.
The polls in both states opened at 8am (local time, 10am in Greece) and close at 6pm (8am Greek time), when the first exit polls will be published.
In both states the polls gave the AfD around 30%. The percentage in Thuringia puts the party first, but in Saxony it has to fight with the Christian Democrats for the first place, although the difference is about two points. The formation of a government is expected to be difficult in both states, because the other parties refuse to cooperate.
Germany and Europe will be watching with interest the performance of Sarah Wagenknecht’s party, which comes from the party of the Left (Die Linke) but adopts a hard stance on issues such as immigration, European issues or the Russian-Ukrainian war. Reuters notes that polls put it at 12 to 20 percent, an impressive performance for a party barely a year old.
In any case, the result in both states will bring a historic upheaval in Germany. For the first time since World War II, a far-right party will have a majority in a state parliament.
Chancellor Soltz’s government coalition is also expected to lose, with the three parties (SPD, Greens, FDP) recording, according to opinion polls, disappointing percentages that may even leave them out of parliament.
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