BERLIN: Polling stations opened on Sunday at 8.00 am (0600 GMT) for voters to cast their ballots and decide the balance of power in the eastern German states of Thuringia and Saxony.
The state parliamentary elections, which each hold considerable power over regional matters, could reverberate nationwide.
Polling stations in both states are open until 6.00 pm.
The main focus is on how well the far-right Alternative for Germany AfD, which could become the strongest party in a state election for the first time, performs.
The three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s squabbling and unpopular national coalition, meanwhile, appear headed for further miserable results that could deepen fractures among ministers, with a year to go until the next nationwide parliamentary elections in September 2025.
Polls ahead of Sunday’s election have put the AfD in the clear lead in Thuringia and narrowly trailing the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) in Saxony.
The firebrand regional leader of the AfD in the state of Thuringia, Björn Höcke, a former history teacher, has been convicted and fined twice this year for using a banned Nazi slogan. He is still facing another pending criminal case on a charge of incitement.
Domestic intelligence has categorised the AfD in Thuringia and Saxony as right-wing extremist and is monitoring the party as a suspected extremist group in both Brandenburg and the national level.
– Bernama, dpa
