Exit Polls Say Musk-Backed AfD Set To Score Best-Ever Showing As Germany Vote Ends

<p><strong>German Election 2025</strong>: Germany voted on Sunday in a snap election described by the BBC as &ldquo;significant not just for Germany but for the rest of Europe and beyond&rdquo;. One of the main issues on the voters&rsquo; mind is immigration, and a spate of attacks attributed to asylum-seekers has reportedly boosted the prospects of the far-right Alternative f&uuml;r Deutschland (AfD). The controversial party, described by critics as extremist, and almost treated as a pariah by the country&rsquo;s other political players, is polling second according to the exit polls released after voting ended late Sunday night (IST).</p>
<p>The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leads the polls with an estimated 29% of the vote, going by the exit polls, while the incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) is third with 16 percent. The exit polls peg the share of the AfD &mdash; which has courted support from Trump-backer tech billionaire Elon Musk &mdash; at around 20%, its best showing ever.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The counting of the votes has begun, and the final result is expected to be clear by Monday.</p>
<p>Other key issues driving the voters are the German economy and the Ukraine-Russia war.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>According to a report by German public broadcaster DW, around 59.2 million Germans in Germany were eligible to vote on Sunday, based on figures from the country&rsquo;s Statistical Office.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>&ldquo;However, around 10 million people living in Germany won&rsquo;t be able to cast a vote because they aren&rsquo;t German citizens. That means about 14% of Germany&rsquo;s adult population will be excluded from voting because of their nationality,&rdquo; the report adds.</p>
<h2 dir=”ltr”>Why The Snap Election</h2>
<p dir=”ltr”>The snap election comes seven months before the next parliamentary polls were scheduled to be held &mdash; the German parliament, or the Bundestag, is elected for four-year tenures, and the last election was held in September 2021. The snap poll was necessitated by the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz&rsquo;s three-way coalition. Scholz is a member of the&nbsp;centre-left SDP.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>According to the Facts About Germany website, the country&rsquo;s electoral system makes &ldquo;it difficult for any single party to form a government on its own &mdash; a coalition government is the rule in Germany&rdquo;. You can read all about Germany&rsquo;s complex election system in&nbsp;<a href=”https://news.abplive.com/explainers/explained-why-do-germans-have-2-votes-how-germany-democracy-works-1752344″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” data-saferedirecturl=”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.abplive.com/explainers/explained-why-do-germans-have-2-votes-how-germany-democracy-works-1752344&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1740417054892000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1rEnXRT_tcLqjeAzsNlwJ9″>this explainer</a>.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>The chancellor will be elected later based on a parliamentary vote.</p>
<h2 dir=”ltr”><strong>AfD&rsquo;s Rise</strong></h2>
<p dir=”ltr”>Founded in 2013, the AfD entered the Bundestag for the first time in 2017 with 12.6% of the vote. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel&rsquo;s &ldquo;decision in 2015 to allow in large numbers of migrants&rdquo; was seen to have &ldquo;supercharged&rdquo; the AfD as a political force, the AP reported. Its vote share fell to 10.3% in the 2021 election, The Guardian reported at the time.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>Read all about the AfD&nbsp;<a href=”https://news.abplive.com/news/world/all-about-germany-s-far-right-afd-backed-by-elon-musk-snap-poll-trending-1752609″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” data-saferedirecturl=”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.abplive.com/news/world/all-about-germany-s-far-right-afd-backed-by-elon-musk-snap-poll-trending-1752609&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1740417054892000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Ne-_0WvArrmEYwH5NOqdb”>here</a>.</p>