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🇩🇪 Germany /Elections & Politics

Saxony-Anhalt election map: Halle stands apart as Eisleben becomes an AfD stronghold

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • The AfD won 38 of 41 direct mandates in Saxony-Anhalt, including 55.6% of first-choice votes in Eisleben.
  • The Left won constituencies in Halle and Magdeburg, while Halle III became the only constituency where the Greens led the second vote.
  • Residents expressed both satisfaction with the AfD’s result and fear about its implications for migrants and queer people.

The AfD won 38 of Saxony-Anhalt’s 41 direct mandates, with its strongest first-vote result coming in Eisleben, where candidate Reiner Kretschmann received 55.6%.

Everyone gets what they deserve. It couldn’t go on like this.

· Günter SchlufterHe expressed satisfaction with the AfD’s election result in Eisleben.

Near Eisleben’s market square, Günter Schlufter said he was pleased with the result. “Everyone gets what they deserve,” he said. “It couldn’t go on like this.” He blamed established parties and broken political promises, adding that the economy was being “played into the ground.”

Fahed Alfaraj saw the result differently. “We are afraid as foreigners. We do not know what will happen in the future,” he said. He worried not only about himself and his family, but also about people he knows who work or are completing vocational training. He questioned whether they could now face deportation.

We are afraid as foreigners. We do not know what will happen in the future.

· Fahed AlfarajHe described concerns about the result’s impact on migrants.

The AfD did not sweep the major cities. Left candidates won one constituency in Magdeburg and two in Halle. Halle III was also the only constituency in the state where the Greens led the second-vote count, making it a “Gallic village” in a sea of blue.

We cannot afford to keep being played off against one another. There is frustration, and it is justified, but the AfD directs it against people who are not responsible and cannot change it.

· GerrieA protest-camp participant criticized how the AfD channels public frustration.

Vera Schulze, a spokesperson and co-organizer of the Solidarity Place for All alliance, said she feared for people who would be affected first by AfD policies. Demonstrators gathered at a protest camp in Halle on election night to oppose the AfD and support democracy and diversity. Camp participant Gerrie said frustration was legitimate, but argued that the AfD directed it against people who were not responsible for political problems. As a queer person who has lived in rural Saxony-Anhalt for years, he said he wondered how long it would remain safe for him.

As a queer person who has lived here in rural Saxony-Anhalt for years, I ask myself how long it will remain safe for me.

· GerrieHe described his concerns after the election.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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