On Sunday, Brandenburg is holding a state election, three weeks after anti-immigration parties made gains in other eastern states. The election is under special scrutiny to see which political direction the country will take.
Some 2.1 million voters have registered to cast their ballots in the Brandenburg state election this Sunday. Besides, about 100,000 of those eligible to vote in this state election are first-time voters.
The latest polls show that the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is running exceptionally close to the Social Democratic Party, which has continuously ruled the state since German reunification in 1990. The latter hopes to retain ruling of its stronghold amid growing support for opposition parties.
The defeat of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats in Brandenburg will come as a bad omen a year before federal elections due on 28 September 2025. The election also has special significance for Scholz, as he himself lives in Potsdam, the capital of the state.
The fate of Brandenburg Governor Dietmar Woidke is also in limbo, as he has promised to resign if the Social Democrats are defeated. The risks of defeat are increased by the fact that parties in Scholz’s government received extremely weak results in elections in Saxony and Thuringia in early September. In contrast, the opposition conservative parties made significant gains.
Anti-immigration and national-oriented parties are drawing ground amid growing backlash over large-scale migration to Germany over the past decade and several recent extremist attacks. On top of that, Germany’s once-powerful economy is weakening, adding to a general sense of discontent.
The election procedure for the state parliament runs as follows. Each voter has two votes in the state election. The direct candidate from each district is elected on the first ballot. Since Brandenburg is divided into 44 districts, the candidate with the most votes in each district gets into the state parliament. The second vote elects the party list. Valid second votes are crucial to the strength of the parliamentary group in the state parliament, which usually has 88 seats.
The first predictions are due to be released as soon as the polling stations close at 6 p.m., so the actual results should be expected closer to 6:30 p.m. The preliminary official final result will probably not come out until late afternoon or overnight.
