Exit polls have predicted that the German populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has become the second-largest German party in the European Parliament.
Two separate tallies in the country on June 9 have AfD outperforming pre-election predictions, with pundits now estimating its members will land between 16 to 17 seats.
That would put the party ahead of all three of Germany’s ruling government parties, with only the opposition Christian Democrats expected to outperform it.
Grobe Orientierungswerte sind für den 2. Sitz ∼1,55 %, für den 3. Sitz ∼2,6 %, für den 4. Sitz ∼3,65 % usw.
Dementsprechend ergeben sich aus den Prognosen diese Sitzverteilungen. #Europawahl pic.twitter.com/zZD8t1YHHL— Wahlrecht.de (@Wahlrecht_de) June 9, 2024
The polls also indicated that the left-populist Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht party was likely to finish with five or six seats, one or two less than had been predicted during the lead up to the elections.
That would still put the upstart party well ahead of its Socialist rival, Die Linke, which is now expected to lose two of its five seats.
The Greens also appeared to have underperformed, with the party expected to return to Brussels with 12 MEPs, substantially down from its previous total of 21.
Polling indicates that support for the group has particularly fallen among the youth, with the party dropping 23 points within the 16-24-year-old bracket.
EUROPAWAHL: Stimmenanteile bei 16-24-Jährigen, laut Infratest dimap/ARD
Sonstige: 27% (+2)
Union: 17% (+5)
AfD: 17% (+12)
GRÜNE: 11% (-23)
SPD: 9% (+1)
LINKE: 7% (-1)
FDP: 6% (-2)
BSW: 6% (NEU)Änderungen zu 2019#EUWahl #EP2024
— Deutschland Wählt (@Wahlen_DE) June 9, 2024
