Germany goes to polls in key regional elections

BERLIN

German voters are electing new regional parliaments for the southwestern states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg on Sunday in a key vote widely seen as a bellwether for September’s national election.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is expected to suffer losses amid growing criticism of the government’s hard lockdown measures, the slow pace of vaccinations, and recent scandals linked to the procurement of face masks.

According to a recent poll by public broadcaster ZDF, in Baden-Wuerttemberg the environmentalist Green Party is in the top spot with 34%, 10 points ahead of Merkel’s conservative CDU.

The Christian Democrats are expected to get their worst result in over half a century in this federal state, down from 27% in the last elections, in 2016.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, polls showed the Social Democratic Party (SPD) on course to win around 33% of the votes, ahead of its main rival the Christian Democrats.

The ZDF poll put the CDU at 29%, nearly three points down from the 2016 elections.

The Greens are expected to get nearly 10% of the votes in Rhineland-Palatinate, almost doubling their result from the last state election.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was polling at 9% in Rhineland-Palatinate, and 11% in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Big vote by mail

Due to fears over coronavirus, many Germany voters chose to cast their ballots by mail rather than in person on Sunday, according to election officials.

In Baden-Wuerttemberg, nearly 16% of eligible voters arrived at polling stations as of midday, down from 35.5 % in the last election. Nearly 36% of the voters cast their vote by mail.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, 44.5% eligible voters cast their ballots by mail ahead of Election Day.

The first exit polls will be published after 6 p.m. local time (1700GMT), when polling stations close.

First big test for Armin Laschet

Sunday’s polls will be the first big political test for the CDU’s new leader Armin Laschet, a potential successor to Merkel, ahead of general elections in September.

Laschet was elected party leader in January, but the CDU and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) have not yet named their joint chancellor candidate.

Merkel, 66, stepped down as party leader in 2018 and repeatedly said she will leave politics in 2021 after completing her current term.