GERMANY
German election turnout soars
By 2 p.m. more than 52% of voters had exercised their right to vote, 15.5% more than in 2021 at the same time.
Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) votes.
The German voter turnout at the polls had skyrocketed by 2 p.m. local time to 52%. This implies that the national turnout is 15.5% higher than that recorded at the same time in 2021 and 11% higher than in the 2017 polls.
Economic and international uncertainty, the momentum of the conservative AFD party, which some polls suggest will reach 20% of the vote, Trump's arrival in the White House and Musk's campaigns on X have provoked a massive mobilization in the European Union as Germany is preparing to elect the replacement for current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who called an election after losing a confidence motion in the Bundestag (German parliament) last December.
Heading toward a new coalition with the center-right in the lead
Polls point to the election winner being Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative CDU/CSU group. The polls project him to obtain close to 30% of the votes, which means that an alliance with at least one other party will be necessary to form a government.
Germany is also experiencing a security and immigration crisis, which has led many citizens to trust the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party. Branded as extreme right-wing by its political opponents and by many European leaders and analysts, events such as last Friday's antisemitic stabbing by a Syrian refugee further stoked the flames of the tense German electoral climate.
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