AfD hits 44% in Saxony-Anhalt exit poll

Alternative for Germany supporters celebrated in Magdeburg on Sunday after exit polls put the far-right party at 44 percent in Saxony-Anhalt's state election, far ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right CDU.

Votes were still being counted, and it was unclear whether the anti-immigration party could win an absolute majority and govern the eastern state. Public broadcaster ZDF put turnout at 78 percent, compared with around 60 percent at the last state election five years ago.

AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund, 35, is seeking to form the first far-right state government in Germany since the Nazi era, a prospect opposed by mainstream parties and feared by members of minority groups.

At the party event in Magdeburg, AfD state lawmaker Daniel Wald compared the mood to the day the Berlin Wall fell. Retiree Angela Maike told AFP she had expected about 41 percent and was surprised by the higher exit-poll figure.