On September 6, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took 43.8% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, more than double the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)‘s 17.2%. Turnout was 77.8%, the highest in the state’s history of free elections. The party campaigned on a platform that included a deportation and remigration offensive, and pursuing “all legal avenues” to limit Islamic expression.
Saxony-Anhalt is a broadly rural German state, with a very small migrant population and minimal incentive to campaign to them. While the AfD’s record-breaking result in Saxony-Anhalt had little to do with migrant voters, things will be very different when Berlin goes to the polls on September 20.
