07/09/2026
🇩🇪 FAR-RIGHT AfD WINS HISTORIC VICTORY IN GERMANY’S SAXONY-ANHALT
➜ Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has won the Saxony-Anhalt state election with 43.8% of the vote, more than doubling its 2021 result.
➜ The AfD secured 39 of the 83 seats, leaving it three seats short of an outright majority and unable to govern alone.
➜ The result marks a major breakthrough for the party and brings it closer than ever to leading a German state government since the Second World War.
➜ Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU suffered a major setback, falling to 17.2% and 15 seats — its worst result in the state and roughly half its previous vote share.
➜ AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund described the result as a historic mandate to govern, but forming a stable government remains uncertain because mainstream parties have ruled out cooperation with the AfD.
➜ The BSW won 5.3% and five seats, potentially making it an important factor in the government-formation process.
➜ Turnout reached 77.8%, the highest recorded for a state election in Saxony-Anhalt since German reunification, underscoring the significance of the vote.