Polling stations open in German state as AfD eyes historic victory

The Alternative for Germany is approaching a potentially historic breakthrough in Saxony-Anhalt, where polling stations opened on Sunday for a state election watched closely across Germany. About 1.7 million voters are choosing a new state parliament, and opinion polls put the right-wing party at roughly 40 percent.

The AfD’s lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, is seeking an absolute majority and the chance to install the first state premier from his party. The party is classified as an unconstitutional organization in Saxony-Anhalt, according to the article.

The Christian Democratic Union, led in the state by Premier Sven Schulze, stood at 23 percent in the polls. The Left followed at 11 percent, the Social Democratic Party at 8 percent and the Greens at 6 percent. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance and the Free Democratic Party were both expected to fall below the 5 percent threshold.

That result would make a continuation of the current CDU, SPD and FDP coalition unlikely. All parties with a realistic chance of entering parliament have rejected cooperation with the AfD. One option discussed after the vote was a CDU-SPD-Greens coalition backed by the Left.

Democracy rallies took place in Magdeburg, the state capital, on Saturday at the invitation of trade unions and civic groups. Catholic Bishop Gerhard Feige said he feared the election result because of the AfD’s strength. “People can still be easily led astray, and that frightens me. I am speechless when I see how the danger posed by the AfD is being downplayed,” he told the Augsburger Allgemeine. Polls close at 6 p.m., with provisional results expected overnight.

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People can still be easily led astray, and that frightens me. I am speechless when I see how the danger posed by the AfD is being downplayed.