The broadcaster ZDF saw the SPD with Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz in the front. According to ARD calculations, both were tied. The first projections were expected in the course of the evening.
According to initial forecasts by the television stations, the CDU and CSU suffered significant losses and achieved their worst result since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. According to calculations by ARD and ZDF (6 p.m.), the SPD with Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz achieved 25 to 26 percent (2017: 20 , 5). The CDU / CSU with top man Armin Laschet lost around seven points and landed at 24 to 25 percent (2017: 32.9). In third place are the Greens with Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock with 14.5 to 15 percent (2017: 8.9), who almost doubled their share of the vote.
The right-wing populist AfD reached 10 to 11 percent (2017: 12.6), the FDP (Liberals) 11 to 12 percent (2017: 10.7). The Left Party came to 5 percent (2017: 9.2).
The forecasts are based on polling voters after they have cast their votes. The high number of postal votes was not taken into account. The first projections based on votes that have already been counted will be expected shortly. The preliminary official final result is expected after midnight.
SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil immediately saw a “government mandate”. “The SPD is back,” he said on ZDF. “The SPD has a government mandate. We want Olaf Scholz to become Chancellor.”
CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak meanwhile brought a “Jamaica coalition” into discussion. “There is an opportunity for a future coalition,” he says on ARD. You could govern with the Greens and the FDP. The Union has shown a race to catch up. “It will be a long election evening,” he says.
