Saxony-Anhalt held a state election on Sunday, with exit polls projecting the far-right Alternative fuer Deutschland as the clear winner on 44.5% of the vote after unusually high turnout. Ballots were still being counted late in the day.
The result placed the anti-immigration party far ahead of the Christian Democratic Union of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which stood at 18.5% in projections by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. That gap gave the AfD more than double the support of its nearest rival in the eastern state.
It remained unclear whether the party had secured an absolute majority, and therefore whether it could form a government on its own. Mainstream parties in Germany have maintained a policy of refusing coalitions with the AfD, a stance known as the firewall.
Should the AfD ultimately take power in the state, it would become the first far-right party to govern at the regional or federal level in Germany since the end of the second world war. The contest was watched closely well beyond the country’s borders.
The AfD described the projected outcome as a “historic result.” The party’s strongest support has been concentrated in the states of the former East Germany, where economic grievances and opposition to immigration have driven its rise over successive elections.
The scale of the projected win adds pressure to the firewall arrangement, under which the CDU and other established parties have declined cooperation. Whether those parties can assemble a governing coalition without the AfD depends on the final distribution of seats once counting concludes.
The AfD has grown into one of the most consequential forces in German politics, polling strongly nationally as well as in the east. Its performance in Saxony-Anhalt follows earlier gains that reshaped the balance of power in several eastern states.
Full official results are expected once the vote count is completed, after which coalition talks would determine who governs the state.