{"id":223293,"date":"2026-09-06T16:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T16:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/germanys-far-right-afd-eyes-landmark-state-victory-as-saxony-anhalt-votes-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T16:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T16:06:16","slug":"germanys-far-right-afd-eyes-landmark-state-victory-as-saxony-anhalt-votes-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/germanys-far-right-afd-eyes-landmark-state-victory-as-saxony-anhalt-votes-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s far-right AfD eyes landmark state victory as Saxony-Anhalt votes – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BERLIN \u2014 Voting in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt began on Sunday in a closely watched election that could see the Alternative for Germany<\/a> (AfD) become the first far-right party \u2060to take power at a state level since World War Two.
Under its 35-year-old lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund, the party has been polling ahead for months, and there is a genuine chance the AfD could take an absolute majority on Sunday evening, particularly if several smaller parties fail to clear Germany\u2019s 5% threshold to enter parliament.
The exact percentage that would constitute an absolute majority will depend on how many parties overcome that hurdle, but Siegmund has said his aim is to reach 45% or more of the vote.
The vote is seen as a barometer for the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a>, who has attempted to chip away at the AfD\u2019s popularity by taking a tougher \u2060line on migration and security.
About 1.7 million voters have until 6 p.m. (12 p.m. ET) to cast \u200btheir \u2060ballot before polls close, with initial results expected shortly after. State election officials will release their first estimates on turnout figures starting at noon.
Recent surveys place the AfD at just over 40%, followed by Merz\u2019s Christian Democrats (CDU) at 23%.
An outright majority would allow the party to sidestep Germany\u2019s political \u201cfirewall\u201d, under which mainstream parties refuse to govern with it.
Achieving an absolute majority is a high bar \u200cto clear in Germany\u2019s proportional electoral system, which was designed in part to encourage coalition governments and make it difficult for one party to rule alone.
If the AfD falls short of an outright majority, a CDU-led administration under incumbent state premier Sven Schulze is the most likely outcome, \u200cthough the exact shape of any coalition would depend on which parties enter.
The state\u2019s constitution requires the newly elected parliament to convene within 30 days of the vote, by October 6 at the latest, but there is no deadline for electing a new state premier.
For the AfD, the Saxony-Anhalt election is a stepping stone towards its larger ambitions of securing national power in the next federal election scheduled for 2029.
\u201cNo matter the outcome of tomorrow\u2019s election, we have already made history,\u201d said Siegmund at a final rally on Saturday evening.
\u201cBecause what we have started here in \u2060Saxony-Anhalt \u2014 that is currently sweeping across all of Germany \u2014 can no longer be stopped,\u201d he told the crowd in the state capital, Magdeburg.
Should it win, the AfD plans to shift schools and cultural institutions towards more traditional values, marginalise immigrants and deeply reform the public broadcasting system.
However, without an absolute majority, the AfD, which has been classified as \u201cfar-right extremist\u201d by the state security service, would struggle to enter government due to the firewall.
Siegmund, who arrived to cast his vote in his hometown of Tangermuende on a blue Simson moped, greeted by throngs of excited fans, has ruled out entering a coalition with other parties.
He argues that it is impossible for the AfD to govern with the mainstream politicians who have been \u200cdriving Germany into the ground over the past three decades and instead is aiming to win 45% or more of the \u200bvote.
Falling short of that opens the prospect of complex coalition negotiations, dependent on which parties can hit the 5% hurdle.
Polls show \u200cone of the CDU\u2019s current coalition partners, the Free Democratic Party, \u2060falling short, while the other, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), is under 10%.
The small far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), the only party that \u2060has not ruled out a coalition with the AfD, is also likely to miss out.
For Schulze, who is favoured in polls as voters\u2019 top choice for leader, combining with the \u200cSPD and Greens might not be enough for \u200ba majority, but the CDU has ruled out a coalition with the \u200cfar-left Left Party that could help it reach that threshold.
One option \u200bcould be a minority government led by Schulze that would depend on passive tolerance from the Left \u2014 a model used in the neighbouring eastern German state of Thuringia.
Schulze, casting his vote in Magdeburg with far fewer crowds, said he hoped for a high turnout after what he described as a physically and mentally demanding election campaign.
Reuters
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeBERLIN \u2014 Voting in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt began on Sunday in a closely watched election that could see the Alternative for Germany (AfD) become the first far-right party \u2060to take power at a state level since World War Two.Under its 35-year-old lead candidate Ulrich […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}