Significant voter participation in Saxony and Thuringia
Considered as "preordained choices": Currently, fresh state parliaments are being chosen in Thuringia and Saxony. As of now, anyone advocating for democracy can't find fault with the current voter engagement levels. However, an incident took place at a voting station in Thuringia.
Elevated voter participation is anticipated in the state elections happening in Saxony and Thuringia. By midday, 25.8% of eligible voters in Saxony had cast their ballots, as announced by the Statistical State Office in Kamenz. In the previous state election held in 2019, the figure stood at 26.2%. However, the provisional voter count excludes mail-in ballots. It is predicted that 24.6% of eligible voters will vote by mail, in contrast to the 16.9% who did so in 2019.
Voter participation was exceptionally high in Dresden and Leipzig. In Dresden, 57.5% of eligible voters had already cast their ballots by noon, compared to 53.3% in the state capital at the same time five years prior. In Leipzig, voter participation stood at 52.5%, notably higher than the 40.8% observed in 2019. Both cities included mail-in ballots in their totals. The city administration in Chemnitz revealed a voter participation of approximately 33%, with only ballots cast on the current day being considered. "For comparison, we unveiled a preliminary voter participation of around 32% at the same time in the previous state election held in 2019," the city reported.
In the Thuringia state elections, voter participation is roughly on par with the previous parliamentary election as per the state election commissioner. Around 32% of eligible voters had cast their votes in the polling stations by noon, with mail-in ballots not included in these figures. During the Thuringia state election held in 2019, voter participation was 31.2%.
These figures also indicate a stronger interest in the state election than in the European and local elections held this year. In June, the voter participation level stood at 24.3% at the same time.
Ruckus at a Thuringian polling station
As per the Saxon state election office, the elections were conducted smoothly in the morning without any disruptions. No issues were reported. However, this was not the scenario in Thuringia: After a commotion at a polling station in Gera, a report was filed for threats. A man donning an AfD T-shirt entered the polling station to cast his vote in the morning, a police spokesman stated. The polling station manager subsequently asked the man to remove the T-shirt, as party advertising was prohibited within the polling station. Though the man adhered to the request, he threatened to "return" upon leaving the polling station, expressing his dissatisfaction with how he was treated.
The police then filed a report and issued a warning to the man. Additionally, the Erfurt police are investigating some political graffiti ("Höcke is a Nazi") near polling stations throughout the night for vandalism.
Despite the incident at a polling station in Gera involving a man wearing an AfD T-shirt, the overall voter participation in Thuringia's state elections is similar to the previous parliamentary election. The man was asked to remove the T-shirt due to party advertising rules within polling stations and later threatened upon leaving.
In response to the political graffiti near polling stations in Erfurt, local authorities are currently investigating the incidents for vandalism.
