Polls have opened in the northern German state of Hamburg on Sunday, where the Social Democrats (SPD) are aiming to rally from a crushing defeat in national elections a week ago. The SPD currently governs the northern German city-state in a coalition with the Greens.
Polling stations are open until 6:00 p.m. (1700 UTC/GMT) in what is currently Germany’s only election scheduled at the state level this year.
Most of the focus is on how outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD fare in Hamburg after the party suffered their worst nationwide result in federal elections last week.
The conservative bloc comprised of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) came out on top last week, with Scholz’s SPD only able to place in third behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Polls predict SPD win in traditional stronghold
Hamburg has been led by a center-left coalition comprised of the SPD and the Greens for the last five years and pre-election polling predicts another majority for the alliance led by Social Democrat Mayor Peter Tschentscher.
Although Tschentscher is expected to win by a smaller margin this year, a day before polling opened, he said he was optimistic the SPD would be able to shake the poor national result, because of a long-standing support for his party in Hamburg.
“There is always an influence on state political decisions when the federal political situation is so complicated,” he added to dpa news agency.
According to the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen polling group, the SPD is predicted to win 33% of the vote, followed by the CDU at 18% and the Greens at 17%.
The Left, which surged to a surprise 8.7% in last week’s national election, is predicted to rise to 12%, followed by the far-right AfD with 9%.
At least 121 seats are up for grabs in the regional parliament in Hamburg, and just like in federal elections, parties need to secure at least 5% of the vote to enter parliament.
However, while in federal elections the voting age is 18, all citizens of Hamburg holding German citizenship are eligible to cast a ballot from the age of 16.
Edited by: Sean M. Sinico
