AfD Could Become First Far-Right State Government in Germany Since 1945

Overview

• The vote held on Sunday, September 6, 2026, could give the AfD enough seats in Saxony-Anhalt to form a single-party government and bypass the usual coalition barriers.
• State intelligence has classified the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch as an extremist rightwing organization, allowing expanded surveillance but not an automatic ban.
• Senior officials are planning ways to withhold classified material and to use administrative rules to block access to security files, and the defence minister has said he would not share secrets with an AfD government.
• AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund runs a highly popular campaign but faces accusations about aides with links to banned neo‑Nazi groups and about nepotism in staffing choices.
• A victory would test Germany’s constitutional safeguards by forcing decisions on federal intervention in state police powers and by reshaping national politics in response to long‑running economic and social divides in the eastern states.