State elections in the East: Voter turnout until midday similar to 2019 elections

State elections in the East: Voter turnout until midday similar to 2019 elections

The state elections in Thuringia and Saxony are being watched with excitement nationwide. Voting started off calmly until police were deployed at the polling station in Gera.

In the state elections in Thuringia and Saxony, a similar voter turnout is initially emerging as in the previous elections in 2019. By midday, 25.8 percent of eligible voters in Saxony had cast their votes, according to the State Statistical Office in Kamenz. In the previous state election in 2019, the figure at the same time was 26.2 percent.

The preliminary figures do not yet include postal voters. It is expected that 24.6 percent of those eligible to vote will exercise their right to vote by mail, it said. In 2019, the figure was 16.9 percent.

Voter turnout in Thuringia by midday at around 32 percent

According to the state election officer, around 32 percent of eligible voters in Thuringia had cast their votes in the polling stations by 12 noon. According to the state election officer, postal voters are not included in these figures. In the 2019 state election, voter turnout at this time was 31.2 percent.

Those eligible to vote can still cast their votes until 6 p.m. The elections are seen as a mood test before the 2025 federal election. According to surveys in both states, the AfD can hope for record results of around 30 percent of the vote. However, due to a lack of partners, it will probably not be able to govern. A difficult coalition is expected, in which the new alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) wants to get involved. In Saxony, Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) has a chance of another term in office – in Thuringia, Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) has to fear for his post. The traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP are threatened with bitter defeats.

Saxony’s Prime Minister appears optimistic about voting

Despite the difficult situation, Kretschmer was convinced that he would lead the next state government in the Free State. “It has to be the Saxon Union. We are here in Saxony, we will not let anyone tell us what to do. We are going our own Saxon way,” said the CDU politician after going to the ballot box in Dresden this morning. The CDU has governed Saxony since 1990.

Police investigate threat in Thuringian polling station

No major disruptions to the election were reported by midday. In Gera, a police operation was called out because of a threat in a polling station. A man wearing an AfD T-shirt entered the polling station to vote in the morning, said a police spokesman. The polling station manager then asked the man to take off the shirt because it was prohibited party advertising in the polling station.

The man did comply with the request. However, when he left the polling station, he threatened to “come back” because he was dissatisfied with the way he was treated. The police filed a report and admonished the man. Other media had previously reported on the incident.

In addition, the police in Erfurt are investigating property damage because of some political graffiti (“Höcke is a Nazi”) that was put up near polling stations on Sunday night, the police spokesman said.

Source: Stern

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