The local elections in Thuringia have got off to a quiet start. By midday, around 24.4 percent of the approximately 1.74 million eligible voters had cast their votes, according to the State Statistical Office. Postal voters are not included in this number.
In 2019, voter turnout at this time was 25.2 percent, around 0.8 percentage points higher. There have been no disruptions or other incidents so far, the state office and police said.
Mood test for the state election
The decision will be made in the local elections in Thuringia over 13 district administrators, 94 mayors and mayors, including those of the five independent cities, 1,025 district and local mayors, 17 district councils and more than 600 city and municipal councils. 1.7 million people are called upon to vote in the municipalities.
The Thuringian local elections are seen as a mood test for the state elections in September 2024. The focus is on the AfD, which the state’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as definitely right-wing extremist for three years. In current polls for the state elections, the party led by Björn Höcke AfD the strongest force in Thuringia. A difficult coalition formation is expected after the state election, as the other parties represented in parliament refuse to work with the AfD. Höcke was recently convicted of using an SA slogan.
No candidates in 91 locations
In the run-up to the election, Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow expressed concern about the state of democracy. The fact that no candidates were running in 91 places in Thuringia was an alarm signal for him, the Left politician told the Editorial Network Germany (RND).
At the end of last week, the Thuringian State Office for Statistics announced that 18,986 candidates would run for a total of 7,464 seats in the district council, city council and municipal council elections.
The local elections in Thuringia have got off to a quiet start. By midday, around 24.4 percent of the approximately 1.74 million eligible voters had cast their votes, according to the State Statistical Office. Postal voters are not included in this number.
In 2019, voter turnout at this time was 25.2 percent, around 0.8 percentage points higher. There have been no disruptions or other incidents so far, according to the state office and police.
The decision will be made in the local elections in Thuringia over 13 district administrators, 94 mayors and mayors, including those of the five independent cities, 1,025 district and local mayors, 17 district councils and more than 600 city and municipal councils. 1.7 million people are called upon to vote in the municipalities.