Overview

• Polls opened at 8 a.m. across 15 stations staffed by 189 workers for 22,752 eligible voters, with preliminary results expected this evening.
• Voters are choosing among René Jurisch, an independent backed by the AfD, incumbent finance and order mayor Markus Renner, and FDP candidate Martin Bahrmann to succeed Olaf Raschke after 21 years.
• Renner, a non-party candidate, is endorsed by the CDU, SPD, Die Linke and local lists, while Jurisch runs as a non-party figure supported by the AfD.
• Jurisch’s past includes a brief NPD membership and founding a now-dissolved Germanic customs association, which he has described as youthful mistakes.
• The AfD highlights its 32.9 percent in Meißen’s 2024 council vote and expects to be competitive, and a second round on September 28 will decide the winner by simple plurality if no one passes 50 percent today.