The CDU clearly won the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff's party came to over 30 percent of the vote on Sunday according to initial forecasts and was clearly ahead of the AfD, which ranked between 22 and 24 percent in the forecasts. In the last state elections in 2016, the AfD had jumped to 24.3 percent of the vote, the CDU to 29.8. The left, which had received 16.3 percent in 2016, lost according to initial forecasts and came to around eleven percent. The SPD was also unable to improve its historically poor result in the last state election (10.6 percent) and received between eight and ten percent. Greens and the FDP were able to win. The Free Democrats, who just failed to pass the five percent hurdle in 2016, managed to get back into the Magdeburg state parliament with six to seven percent.The Greens also did significantly better with six to seven percent than five years ago, when they had come to 5.2 percent.
In the election campaign, the possible performance of the AfD had also played an important role for the other parties. Prime Minister Haseloff had spoken out clearly against any cooperation with the right-wing populists, even if voices in his party had repeatedly been voiced in favor of exploring any kind of cooperation with the AfD. Last year Haseloff dismissed his Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht after he brought a minority CDU government into play in an interview, for which the Christian Democrats needed the votes of the AfD. Stahlknecht, who at that time had already been traded as the successor to Haseloff, subsequently also resigned as state chairman of the CDU.
AfD top candidate Oliver Kirchner had expressed the hope that his party would become the strongest force when he cast his vote on Sunday in Magdeburg.
Kirchner restricted the fact that he was also satisfied with a result between 22 and 26 percent.
"I would like this to be a trend-setting result for the federal election," said Kirchner.
Tension in Berlin
The results in Saxony-Anhalt had also been eagerly awaited in federal politics. As the last state election before the federal election in September, it was considered an important mood test for all parties, but especially for the CDU chairman and Union chancellor candidate Armin Laschet. In the event of a particularly poor performance by the CDU, Laschet, who had only prevailed against CSU chairman Markus Söder in the struggle for the Union's candidacy for chancellor, would have been considered damaged. Especially in the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt, with a view to the upcoming election, many had campaigned for Söder, who had been trusted to mobilize significantly more voters for the CDU.
In 2016, the CDU concluded the first so-called Kenya coalition in Germany because of the strong performance of the AfD with the SPD and the Greens. Despite many conflicts and contrary to some prognoses, the alliance held out for the full legislative period, even if, especially in the Saxony-Anhalt CDU, the aversion to the green coalition partner was repeatedly expressed to the outside world. Prime Minister Haseloff recently praised the Greens and never ruled out a five-year coalition with the SPD and the Greens. In the event of a new edition, however, it can be assumed that the Greens will demand a second ministry. However, the option of a so-called Germany coalition with the SPD and FDP is considered more popular among the CDU MPs.
SPD top candidate Katja Pähle announced last year that she was looking for a “progressive majority” in the country. But even before the election, a red-red-green majority for the SPD, the Left and the Greens were only expected to have few chances. In the SPD, it was mainly hoped that the party could improve its desolate result of 2016, when the Social Democrats had fallen from 21.5 percent to 10.6 percent. Many Greens would also have preferred a left alliance in the Magdeburg state parliament, but the party with top candidate Cornelia Lüddemann had always made it clear that it was ready for a continuation of the Kenya coalition.
In total, around 1.8 million people in Saxony-Anhalt were called upon to elect a new parliament. A total of 449 candidates from 22 parties are standing for election, distributed in 41 constituencies. By the afternoon, the turnout was below the values of the previous state election. According to the State Statistical Office, at 2 p.m. it was 27.1 percent after 35.4 percent in the vote five years ago. At the time, the turnout at the end of the day was 61.1 percent. In the more than 2000 polling stations across the country, the corona rules with distance and hygiene rules as well as mask requirements applied. In view of the pandemic, a high proportion of postal voters was expected. In some places, however, queues formed in front of the polling stations.