Voting process - CDU has a significant lead in the European elections of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emerged as the strongest force in the European election held in Rhineland-Palatinate and on a federal level. After the votes were counted, the Christian Democrats secured 30.7% of the votes in Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday. This was 0.6 percentage points lower than their support in the previous European election in 2019.
This election also served as a political opinion poll in the region.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) held on to the second place with 17.5% of the votes but suffered a 3.8 percentage point decrease in voter support. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) came in third place with 14.7%, an increase of 4.9 percentage points.
The Green Party lost 7.4 points in voter support and secured 9.3% of the votes in the preliminary results. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) received 5.9% of the votes (an increase of 0.1), while the voters' representation in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament received 5.2% (an increase of 2.3). The new party BSW of Sahra Wagenknecht gained 4.7% of the votes in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The voter turnout was 66.7%, slightly higher than in 2019's 64.8%.
The state government in Rhineland-Palatinate is a traffic light coalition of the SPD, FDP, and Greens.
On Sunday, the district councils, city and municipal councils, and local councils were also elected in Rhineland-Palatinate. Due to the voting system, significant results for the state can be expected no earlier than Monday.
In the local elections, voters can distribute their votes among different candidates (panachage) or give multiple votes to one candidate (cumulation). This allows them to show stronger support for certain candidates.
The process of counting the votes is time-consuming as a result.
Rhineland-Palatinate Election Results - SWR: Projections and calculations
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The European elections in Germany saw the CDU leading at both the federal level and in Rhineland-Palatinate, with 30.7% of the votes in the latter. The SPD, currently part of the Rhineland-Palatinate state government, experienced a decrease in voter support, while the AfD saw an increase and finished third. The Green Party experienced a significant loss in votes, with the FDP and BSW of Sahra Wagenknecht also seeing increases. The local elections in Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday also saw voters able to distribute or multiply their votes. Despite the voting system making the counting process time-consuming, initial results for the state are expected on Monday. These European elections are taking place across various countries in Europe, including Germany, and the results will influence the composition of the EU Parliament.
