Germany's Saxony-Anhalt votes in state election with far-right AfD tipped to surge

Around 1.7 million eligible voters in Saxony-Anhalt went to the polls on Sunday, with voting stations open from 8am to 6pm, in a state election that has drawn national attention because of the anti-immigration, Moscow-friendly Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The party has polled above 40% for months and is even eyeing an outright majority, which would make it the first far-right party to lead a German state government.

The state is currently run by a coalition led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, under state premier Sven Schulze, who is seeking to form another multiparty coalition to stay in power. Mainstream parties have so far upheld a policy of refusing to cooperate with the AfD, whose Saxony-Anhalt branch is classified as "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence service.

The AfD's lead candidate, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, who draws large crowds and has a substantial social media following, has expressed confidence in winning an absolute majority, saying the party is prepared to govern alone if no one else will work with it.

Key AfD campaign pledges include an intensified push for remigration and deportations, a ban on rainbow flags in schools, and a halt to new wind farm projects. The party has also drawn support by appealing to nostalgia for the former communist East Germany and lingering frustration over the economic gap with the west that persists decades after reunification.

The possibility of an AfD-led state government has alarmed mainstream parties and minority groups, with thousands attending a pro-democracy rally in Magdeburg the night before the vote. The German Economic Institute has warned the AfD's immigration stance could harm the state's economy, which relies heavily on foreign workers amid an ageing, shrinking population. Some officials have also raised concerns that an AfD-controlled state security apparatus could risk leaking sensitive information to Russia.

The most recent poll, from public broadcaster ZDF, put the AfD at 41%, the CDU at 23%, the Social Democrats at 8.5%, and the Greens at 6%, while the far-left Die Linke stood at 11.5% — a result that could open the door to a CDU-led minority government backed on a case-by-case basis by Die Linke.