- Large participation in Saxony's elections
Gotta expect a big crowd for the Saxony state vote. By noon, 25.8% of eligible voters had already dropped their ballots, shares the Kamenz-based Statistical Office. In the 2019 state election, that number was only slightly higher at 26.2%.
The early numbers don't include the mail-in ballots just yet. It's predicted that 24.6% of voters will be casting their votes from home this time around, a steady increase from the 16.9% in 2019. According to the Election Office, the polls ran hitch-free in the morning, with no reported problems.
In Dresden, a whopping 57.5% of eligible voters had made their way to the polls by noon, compared to 53.3% in 2014. Leipzig saw a voter turnout of 52.5% at the same hour, marking a significant jump from the 40.8% in 2019. Mail-in ballots were included in the tally for both cities. Chemnitz reported around 33% turnout during the morning, with only Sunday voters accounted for. The city highlighted that their preliminary turnout was roughly the same as the 32% seen in the last state election in 2019.
The Statistical Office mentioned that other voting methods besides in-person, like mail-in ballots, haven't been included in the early voting numbers yet. Despite the increase in mail-in voting, other traditional methods are still popular, as shown by the high turnout numbers in cities like Dresden and Leipzig.
