Polls opened on Sunday morning, with Angela Merkel looking assured of a fourth-term as Chancellor.
But a large number of people look set to vote for the anti-Muslim AfD, a swing which could see far-right politicians enter the Bundestag for the first time in over half a century.
The party is currently polling at nearly 13 per cent and could end up with nearly 100 representatives, making them the main opposition to any coalition Mrs Merkel puts together.
Writing for the newspaper Bild, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democrats, appeared to warn AfD supporters could triumph if other voters stayed at home.
He Wrote:
“It has perhaps never been as clear that the elections are about the future of democracy and Europe. Both Mrs Merkel and her main challenger, Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz, are concerned that a low turnout could work in favour of smaller parties like the AfD.
In Germany’s proportional election system, low turn-out can boost smaller parties, giving them more seats from the same number of votes. Last year’s regional elections saw Merkel’s party suffer setbacks to the AfD, which profited from resentment at her 2015 decision to open German borders to more than one million migrants.
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