Voters in the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony are casting ballots in local elections that are being closely watched as a gauge of support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Residents are electing mayors, district administrators, and local councils. The polls have drawn unusual attention following the AfD's major victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt last week.

The local elections come ahead of key state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on September 20, which will also be scrutinized as the AfD gains popularity across the country. However, the party still has significantly less support in western states than in those in the former communist East Germany. In the 2021 local elections in Lower Saxony, the AfD achieved just 4.6% at the district level. Some 6.3 million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's elections.

The massive job cuts at car manufacturer Volkswagen are likely to loom large in voters' minds, as Lower Saxony is home to Volkswagen's headquarters and six of its plants, and the state is a key shareholder in the company. Any run-off elections will take place across the state on September 27. The next federal election is scheduled for 2029.

A new nationwide opinion poll released on Sunday showed further gains for the AfD, which climbed one percentage point to reach 29%. The conservative bloc of Chancellor Friedrich Merz — made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) — remained unchanged at 20%. The opposition Green Party was the only other major party to improve its rating, gaining one point to reach 14% and overtake junior coalition party the Social Democrats (SPD) on 13%. The Left party was also unchanged at 10%. The survey was carried out by the polling institute Insa and commissioned by the Bild tabloid.

Source: www.dw.com