Huge turnout as Germany's far-right AfD seeks win in Saxony-Anhalt

World admin September 6, 2026 0 Comments

Huge turnout as Germany’s far-right AfD seeks win in Saxony-Anhalt

MAGDEBUR, Germany – Voters were turning out in force on Sunday in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is seeking to become the first far-right party to lead a regional government in the country since World War II.

The anti-immigration party has been polling above 40% and is hoping to secure an unprecedented absolute majority of seats in the state parliament in Magdeburg.

This would allow it to bypass the mainstream parties’ infamous “firewall” against cooperation with the far right, catapulting the AfD and its charismatic lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund into power.

By 4 p.m. (1400 GMT), 65.3% of the state’s 1.7 million eligible voters had cast their ballots, according to the state election commissioner. This was already beyond the final 60.3% turnout figure – including postal votes -from the last election in 2021.

The state’s 2,130 polling stations are to remain open until 6 p.m., when initial exit polls will be released by broadcasters ZDF and ARD. Projections based on partial vote counts are to follow shortly after, with preliminary results expected by Monday morning.

Polls have shown the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) – who lead the existing three-party coalition in Saxony-Anhalt – in a distant second place to the AfD, which has benefited from widespread dissatisfaction with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government in Berlin.

Whether the AfD can secure a governing majority will likely hinge on whether a trio of left-wing parties – the Left, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens – pass the 5% threshold needed to win seats.

The AfD’s rise in the polls has come even as its branch in Saxony-Anhalt is under surveillance by intelligence services due to its “confirmed” extremist views.

The party’s manifesto includes setting up a task force to speed up deportations, reviving school exchanges with Russia, creating segregated classes for the children of asylum-seekers and banning rainbow flags in schools.

An outright victory for the AfD would unseat current CDU state premier Sven Schulze, and make the 35-year-old Siegmund the youngest state premier in Germany’s history.

Both candidates cast their vote on Sunday, with Siegmund being greeted by supporters as he arrived at his polling station in his hometown of Tangermünde on a Simson, a lightweight moped made in the former East Germany.

Descendants of the Jewish Simson family have strongly criticized the AfD for linking the mopeds to its election campaign.

Merz under pressure

An AfD win would send shock waves through the national political scene, with the party already leading in polls ahead of the next federal election, due to be held in 2029.

It would be a nightmare for Merz, who once famously pledged to halve the far-right party’s popularity.

The chancellor is already under huge pressure as his government struggles to implement a package of economic and social reforms.

Rising inflation and continuing trade disruption linked to the war in Iran have only complicated the task, while Merz’s leadership has been called into question.

With his approval ratings plunging to a historic low of 13% in July, Merz has been largely absent from the campaign trail in Saxony-Anhalt, making his first appearance on Monday just days before voters head to the polls.

And further storm clouds are on the horizon for the conservatives, with two other states set to vote two weeks after Saxony-Anhalt.

In north-eastern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, recent polling suggests the CDU could fall to its worst performance in a German state election since the 1950s. In Berlin, meanwhile, the party is set to lose its hold of the mayor’s office.

A challenger to Merz is yet to emerge from within the ranks of the CDU, but a trio of heavy defeats in September could change the picture.

A YouGov poll last week found more than half of respondents believe Merz will be replaced before the next federal election.

In Saxony-Anhalt, polls have proven unreliable in the past. Ahead of the last state election, the CDU was polling only just ahead of the AfD, or in some cases even behind. In the end, however, it won by a margin of more than 16 percentage points.

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This story was originally published September 6, 2026 at 1:36 PM.