Germany Election: Angela Merkel Re-elected.
Angela Merkel campaigned on her record as chancellor for 12 years, emphasizing the country's record-low unemployment.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is projected to win a fourth term in office after exit polls showed her conservative bloc winning 33.5 percent of the vote in a national election.
Exit polls by public TV stations ARD and ZDF put support for Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc down eight points from the last election in 2013, but still well ahead of their closest rivals, Martin Schulz's Social Democrats (SPD), who slumped to 20.0 percent.
This was a new post-war low for the centre-left party, which are currently junior partners in a so-called "grand coalition" with Merkel.
The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to enter the federal parliament for the first time, projected to win 13.5 percent of the vote.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) bounced back into parliament with 10.1 percent of the vote, while the environmental Greens scored 9.2 percent and the leftist Die Linke picked up 8.9 per cent.
Poll
Polls opened at 8am (0600 GMT) and closed at 6pm (16:00 GMT) with turnout slightly lower than four years ago.
Angela Merkel campaigned on her record as chancellor for 12 years, emphasizing the country's record-low unemployment.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is projected to win a fourth term in office after exit polls showed her conservative bloc winning 33.5 percent of the vote in a national election.
Exit polls by public TV stations ARD and ZDF put support for Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc down eight points from the last election in 2013, but still well ahead of their closest rivals, Martin Schulz's Social Democrats (SPD), who slumped to 20.0 percent.
This was a new post-war low for the centre-left party, which are currently junior partners in a so-called "grand coalition" with Merkel.
The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to enter the federal parliament for the first time, projected to win 13.5 percent of the vote.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) bounced back into parliament with 10.1 percent of the vote, while the environmental Greens scored 9.2 percent and the leftist Die Linke picked up 8.9 per cent.
Poll
Polls opened at 8am (0600 GMT) and closed at 6pm (16:00 GMT) with turnout slightly lower than four years ago.
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