• Polls opened at 8 a.m. (0700 UTC) and closed at 6 p.m.


• Exit polls put CDU/CSU at 29%, the right-wing populist AfD at around 19.5%, and Chancellor Scholz's SPD at 16%


• The AfD is shunned by other parties and expected to be left out of government


• The snap election was triggered by the collapse of a three-way coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz' center-left SPD


• CDU candidate Friedrich Merz could become the next chancellor and choose to form a coalition with the SPD and/or the environmentalist Greens

🇩🇪 Germany exit polls:

- Incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD had its worst-ever result and received approx 16.5% of the vote

- Friedrich Merz’s CDU party are projected to win with approx 30% of the vote

- AfD received a historic number of votes and are projected to come in… pic.twitter.com/saffZzrTVb

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 23, 2025

#BREAKING German election winner Friedrich Merz rules out coalition with far-right AfD party pic.twitter.com/RIt7GDPYWl

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) February 23, 2025