Significantly higher voter turnout is on the horizon

3:11 p.m.: According to an initial forecast, voter turnout in the state elections in Baden-Württemberg could be higher compared to the election five years ago. The turnout at the polling stations – i.e. without postal voters – was a good 41 percent at 2 p.m. and was therefore around ten percentage points higher than at the same time in 2021, said state returning officer Cornelia Nesch.

In the 2021 state election, turnout among ballot box voters was almost 31 percent at 2 p.m. Five years ago, due to corona, fewer voters voted in the polling stations and more voted by postal vote, it was said.

1:23 p.m.: CDU state leader and top candidate Manuel Hagel has cast his vote for the state elections in Baden-Württemberg. The 37-year-old came to the polling station in Ehingen (Alb-Donau district) accompanied by his wife Franziska.

11:07 a.m.: The Green Party’s top candidate for the state elections in Baden-Württemberg, Cem Özdemir, voted at a polling station in Stuttgart. The 60-year-old came alone to the school where the voting room was.

10:18 a.m.: Winfried Kretschmann, still Prime Minister, has cast his vote. The 77-year-old voted at a polling station in the Laiz district of Sigmaringen on Sunday morning.

Polling stations are open

8:00 a.m.: In Baden-Württemberg has the polling stations for the state elections open. People in the southwest have been able to cast their votes since 8 a.m. According to estimates by the State Statistical Office, around 7.7 million people from Baden-Württemberg are eligible to vote. The polling stations are open until 6 p.m.

Head-to-head race expected in Baden-Württemberg

7:00 a.m.: In Baden-Württemberg, people will elect a new state parliament on Sunday. The polling stations are open from 8 a.m. The election is also about the question of who will be the successor to Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens), who is no longer running after three terms in office.

CDU state leader Manuel Hagel and Green Party top candidate Cem Özdemir want to inherit him. The latest polls point to a neck-and-neck race between 37-year-old Hagel and 60-year-old Özdemir.

In a ZDF “Politbarometer Extra” on the Thursday before the election, pollsters saw the CDU and Greens tied at 28 percent each. The Greens had previously significantly shortened the gap to the CDU, which had been the clear leader for a long time.

Baden-Württemberg is currently governed by a green-black coalition. According to surveys, it is very likely that both partners will have to work together again after the election – it is only unclear in which order.

The state elections in the southwest are the start of a super election year with five state elections. Two weeks later there will be elections in Rhineland-Palatinate. There will be elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in September.