Exit polls in Germany show 44.5% support for AfD in Saxony-Anhalt
In Germany, exit polls in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament election showed 44.5% support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. According to Deutsche Welle, the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the state is receiving 18.5% in the exit polls.
Preliminary voting data
Polling stations in Saxony-Anhalt closed at 18:00 local time. The first estimates by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF are not a full count of ballots: they are compiled, among other things, based on surveys of voters at polling stations.
The projections will be refined as actual results from polling stations and postal voting data become available. The preliminary official result was expected overnight after the vote.
On the eve of the election, polls estimated AfD support at around 40–41%, while the CDU was estimated at approximately 22–23%. DW notes that before the 2021 election, opinion polls differed significantly from the final result: the CDU performed better than expected, while AfD performed worse.
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Turnout and seat distribution
By midday, turnout at polling stations had reached 34.7%, compared with 22.4% at the same time in the 2021 election. Nearly 1.7 million state residents aged 18 and older were eligible to vote.
The result of smaller parties may affect the distribution of seats. The Left Party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany were expected to enter parliament, while the Greens, the Free Democratic Party and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance were competing to clear the five-percent threshold.
If the SPD, the Greens, the FDP and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance do not enter the state parliament, AfD could benefit from the redistribution of seats and potentially govern on its own. If more parties enter, forming a coalition will become more difficult.
