Clear Linke win in Berlin, 26 percent, AfD fourth
Berlin voted for a new Abgeordnetenhaus on Sunday 20 September, and the first projection published when polling stations closed at 18:00 puts Die Linke clearly in first place on 26 percent. The CDU follows on 20 percent, the Greens on 15.5 percent and the AfD on 13.5 percent. The SPD is fifth on 12 percent, and the BSW is on 5 percent, which would be just enough to enter the chamber for the first time. These figures come from interviews with voters as they left polling stations. They are not counted ballots.
If the projection holds, it is the first time Die Linke has finished first in Berlin, and it has roughly doubled the 12.2 percent it took in 2023. Elif Eralp, the party's lead candidate, would be in a position to claim the office of Regierende Bürgermeisterin. The AfD finished fourth. Its 13.5 percent is above the 9.1 percent it won in 2023, but well below the 17 to 18 percent it was measured at throughout the campaign. The SPD has been part of every Berlin government since 1989 and would now record its worst result in the city's post-war history.
About 2.5 million people were eligible to vote, and 16 and 17 year olds could take part for the first time. The CDU and SPD coalition that has governed since 2023 has lost its majority, because together those two parties reach only about 32 percent. No two parties can govern alone, so any new government needs three partners. The arithmetic allows two combinations: Die Linke with the Greens and the SPD, or the CDU with the Greens and the SPD. Every party in the chamber has ruled out working with the AfD. Coalition talks usually run for weeks, and the decisions that affect rents, transport and school places will be made in those talks rather than on the evening of the vote.
Counting started at 18:00. The state returning officer expects the first officially counted figures at about 19:30, when roughly ten percent of ballots will have been tallied, and the preliminary official result at about 01:30 on Monday 21 September. The state electoral committee confirms the final official result, normally within two weeks. Treat the 18:00 percentages as an estimate until the count catches up.