Polling stations in Saxony-Anhalt open for state elections

Polling stations in Saxony-Anhalt are open

Sep 6, 2026, 8:26 a.m. Reading time: 1 min.

In Magdeburg, a sign shows the way to a polling station.dpa

You can vote until 6 p.m. +++ AfD also wants to govern with a narrow majority +++ AfD leader Weidel: “Siegmund will make history tomorrow” +++ all developments in the live blog

Polling stations are open

In Saxony-Anhalt, the polling stations are open for the state elections. People have been able to cast their votes since 8 a.m. Almost 1.7 million citizens aged 18 and over are entitled to vote. The polling stations are open until 6 p.m. The counting then begins. The state returning officer expects a preliminary final result early on Monday morning.

The voters decide on the composition of the new state parliament in Magdeburg. Two crosses can be placed on the ballot paper: the first vote elects the direct candidate, and the second vote elects a party. Parliament will later elect the Prime Minister again.

In all surveys, the AfD with its 35-year-old top candidate Ulrich Siegmund was well ahead of Prime Minister Sven Schulze's CDU. The party, which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as a right-wing extremist, has declared a sole government as its goal. The most recent survey results did not reflect this.

In the last survey before the election, the AfD got 41 percent. Prime Minister Sven Schulze's CDU was at 23 percent in the survey published on Thursday by the Elections Research Group on behalf of ZDF. The Left followed in third place with 11.5 percent, the SPD had 8.5 percent, and the Greens had 6 percent. The BSW with 4 percent and the FDP with 3 percent would fail at the five percent hurdle and thus miss out on entering parliament.

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The most important questions and answers about the election in Saxony-Anhalt

F.A.Z. correspondent Reinhard Bingener explains here what is important in the election in Saxony-Anhalt and what happens afterwards.

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Vanessa Angerman

Economics: AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt would deter skilled workers

If the AfD comes into government after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, according to the head of the economists, Monika Schnitzer, this could deter urgently needed skilled workers and thus have serious economic consequences. “In view of the election program, it is to be expected that if the AfD takes over government, the state would become significantly less attractive as a location for skilled workers and companies,” Schnitzer told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”.

The Munich economics professor pointed out that many workers in Saxony-Anhalt will be retiring in the next few years. “Without immigration from outside, many skilled workers will soon be missing. And without sufficient skilled workers, urgently needed investments will not be made,” warned Schnitzer.

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Vanessa Angerman

Özdemir calls for “high pressure” in protecting security-relevant infrastructure

After attacks on substations in several federal states and a drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport that only narrowly failed, Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) called for speed in protecting security-relevant infrastructure and close cooperation between the federal states. “The security requirements have changed dramatically,” Özdemir told the editorial network Germany.

"Regardless of whether the attack comes from left-wing radicals or from Putin's disposable agents: We are vulnerable. Our opponents know that. They are trying to hit us in the sensitive areas in order to stir up uncertainty," explained the Green politician. It is important “that we do not allow ourselves to be unsettled”. Özdemir demanded: “At the same time, we must better protect our security-relevant infrastructure – whether with video surveillance or with fences, all of this must now be done at full speed.”

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Vanessa Angerman

Interior Ministry plans protective shield against Russian sabotage

After the failed drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) wants to take tougher action against Russian acts of sabotage and set up a comprehensive protective shield against further attacks. “Russia’s hybrid attacks with explosive drones at airports, agents in our cities, cyber attacks on our networks and sabotage of our infrastructure are a daily reality,” Dobrindt told “Bild am Sonntag” (Bams). “These attacks will increase, but we can defend ourselves and protect ourselves,” emphasized the minister.

According to “BamS” information, the security plan stipulates that the airspace above critical hubs, airports, train stations and the government district in Berlin will be completely protected from drones through new, quickly deployable units in the strategically most important cities of Frankfurt/Main, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Hanover and Cologne. In addition to intercepting, this also involves defusing drone bombs and explosive devices.

In the future, the defense against drones should not only be carried out by the federal police and other authorities, but also by companies in the critical infrastructure such as waterworks, electricity providers or defense companies. According to “BamS”, they should be given legal options to actively fend off drones.

In response to hundreds of daily cyber attacks on authorities and companies, a national protective shield (“Cyberdome”) is to be set up. The dense network of digital sensors is intended to detect and intercept attempted attacks by hackers.

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Ben Mengler

AfD also wants to take government responsibility with a narrow majority

At the end of the state election campaign in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD confirmed its desire to take over the government. The work as a prospective prime minister really begins on Monday, said the AfD co-federal leader Tino Chrupalla to the top candidate Ulrich Siegmund. “We will support you with all our might.”

The co-federal leader Alice Weidel called out to the full hall: “Uli Siegmund will make history tomorrow for Saxony-Anhalt, for Germany.” At the event with hundreds of cheering and flag-waving supporters, Chrupalla continued: "This blue wave from Magdeburg will spill over to Berlin via Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the end, it will also lead to changes in the federal government."

Top candidate Ulrich Siegmund said: “Sleep again, then we’ll take our country back.” The goal is 45 percent plus X. “Of course we will also assume government responsibility with a majority of one vote,” said Siegmund. “Because we stick together in the AfD, because we don’t have the same conditions as the CDU.”

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Luca Neuschaefer-Rube

Democracy Festival in Magdeburg: “The energy you see today will stay”

“It gives me a lot to know that I’m not alone in this,” says Emil Ringel. A motto that can be heard again and again at the democracy festival in Magdeburg. He is worried about the future, he says, “worried about democracy.” Many people came to the center of the state capital the day before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt because they share this concern. The organizers assume that 15,000 to 20,000 people came to Cathedral Square over the course of the day. According to police, there were a total of 10,000 at several events in the city.

“Send these images of a colorful Saxony-Anhalt to the world,” shouts a spokesman for the Alliance Sachsen-Anhalt Weltoffen, the organizer of the festival, from the stage. There is a mixed audience in these pictures - students, pensioners, young families or the grandmothers against the right, who have come from many German cities. Many of them carry colorful signs, stickers, buttons or flags. This is also the case for Adrian Baum, who has a large sign on his back: “Human rights instead of right-wing people”. His dog wears a bandana with the inscription “I only bite fascists.” Baum says he is optimistic about the next few days, regardless of the election result. Because “the energy you see today will stay.”

The energy that Baum means is easy to describe: at the democracy festival people are in a good mood, singing and dancing. There are many opportunities for this, as bands and artists from all over Germany perform at the festival between speeches: Province, Kerstin Ott, Berq and Juli are among them.

But things always get serious between performances. “Despite all the radical optimism, I would like to warn against a comfortable analysis that is currently spreading,” said climate activist Luisa Neubauer in her speech. Under no circumstances should the AfD's firewall be changed.

It gets particularly loud when Henriette Kretz comes on stage. The Holocaust survivor warns visitors: “I don’t want to hate, hate has never done anything good,” she says. “It is destructive for the people the hate hits, but it is also destructive for the people who carry the hate.” A message that the 17-year-old content creator Max Schneller later takes up again and addresses to the visitors: "Our mission on Monday, September 7th, is that we all continue to defend Article 1 of our Basic Law together. And that means that human dignity is inviolable."

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Police and public prosecutors in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia have published a joint search call with two photos of the 48-year-old alleged perpetrator in connection with various sabotage actions against the German power grid. Read the whole message here:

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Luca Neuschaefer-Rube

Climate activist Neubauer defends firewall

At a democracy festival in Magdeburg, climate activist Luisa Neubauer called for people not to undermine the AfD's firewall. “Despite all the radical confidence, I would like to warn against a comfortable analysis that is currently spreading,” she said at the rally on the day before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt.

For twelve years, the firewall kept an increasingly right-wing extremist party out of government responsibility. “If the solution to the crisis of democracy is to dilute the most reliable mechanism that has protected us for twelve years, then I wonder whether people want to solve the problem at all or whether, at the end of the day, they are now primarily interested in the most convenient power options.”

Among others, Sebastian Krumbiegel from the Prinzen and the singer Kerstin Ott appeared at the rally. As the German Press Agency reports, the organizers assume that 15,000 to 20,000 participants came to Magdeburg Cathedral Square over the course of the day. According to the police, there were a total of ten thousand people at several events in the city.

Luisa Neubauer on Saturday at the Democracy Festival in Magdeburg. dpa

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Luca Neuschaefer-Rube

“Send these pictures of a colorful Saxony-Anhalt to the world”

The cathedral square in the center of Magdeburg is completely full. “Send these pictures of a colorful Saxony-Anhalt to the world,” calls the spokesman for the Saxony-Anhalt Weltoffen alliance. The spectators cheer. "No matter how the election turns out, we are here, we will get involved. We will not allow this country to become brutal."

The singer Magda is the first artist of the day on the festival stage. During the day, the bands Provinz and Juli will perform, among others.

Visitors to the democracy festival on Magdeburg Cathedral Square. Luca Neuschaefer-Rube

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The last two Thuringian BSW MPs raise allegations

After several BSW MPs turned their backs on the party, the two remaining BSW MPs are calling on them to give back their mandates. “Anyone who sits in the state parliament on the BSW ticket must do BSW politics or vacate the seat,” Anke Wirsing and Sven Küntzel are quoted as saying in a press release titled “Theft of a mandate is voter fraud.” In it they call on the MPs who have left the party to return their mandates.

“A group will soon be in power here that no one has elected and whose only perspective is to secure MPs and ministerial positions until the end of the electoral term,” said Wirsing. She is an assessor on the BSW federal executive board and, alongside Küntzel, is considered the only representative of party founder Sahra Wagenknecht's camp.

“Participation in government and the compulsive clinging to power have seriously damaged our credibility and destroyed a lot of the trust of our voters,” criticized Küntzel. He now sees an opportunity for a restart of the BSW in Thuringia. This week, 13 of 15 BSW state parliament members announced their resignation from the party in the ongoing dispute with the federal executive board and party founder Sahra Wagenknecht.

Find out more about the background here:

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Merz: Let's not let the AfD ruin the country

On the day before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) called for a stronger substantive debate with the AfD. “We have to conduct the debate with this party better,” he said at a campaign event in Lower Saxony, where local elections are taking place next week. "We have to deal with the content. We also have to deal with the choice of words."

Merz referred to a statement by Saxony-Anhalt's AfD state leader Martin Reichardt, who said at a federal congress of the AfD youth organization Generation Germany that the state is now "a lazy Asi that stinks of dope." That shows “what these people think of our country,” said Merz. It also shows how you have to deal with these people. “We won’t let these people talk our country into ruin,” emphasized the CDU federal chairman.

The Federal Republic of Germany can look back on a success story spanning almost 80 years - with many problems and many challenges. "But we are still one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We are still one of the safest countries in the world. And we are still one