Christian Democratic Union gets 33% of voices and Social Democratic Party receives 31,5% in North Rhine region elections, according to the predictions. The first predictions show it, says DW.com.
Christian Democratic Union of Germany, headed by Armin Laschet leads with 33%, according to the ARD TV channel. Social Democratic Party receives 31,5%. These are the first predictions that became known right after the polls were closed at 18:00 of local time.
Free Democratic Party gets 12,7%, Alliance 90/The Greens – 6,3%, Left Party – 4,8%. The right populist party Alternative for Germany – 7,3% and Pirate Party – 0,9. Other parties gain 3,5% altogether.
Eections in North Rhine - Westphalia called ‘small general elections’ or rehearsal vote on September 24, when Germany will elect the new Bundestag, and then – the Chancellor.
The chances of candidates aiming for the Chancellor’s seat such as Angela Merkel, who now heads the government and her social democratic rival Martin Schulz depend largely on the results of these elections.
Earlier Germany reported on repulsing two Russian hacker attacks last year. One of the attacks was directed to the servers of Angela Merkel's party.