AfD leads Mecklenburg-Vorpommern count as CDU falls below 5 percent

Alternative for Germany led the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election count Sunday, according to the state returning officer's preliminary results.

All 1,974 polling districts had reported second votes by 12:01 a.m. local time. The AfD had 38.2 percent, the Social Democrats 35.5 percent and Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union 4.9 percent. The Left stood at 6.5 percent, the Greens at 5.7 percent and BSW at 4.8 percent.

The preliminary count is complete. Turnout was 78.1 percent, with 1,024,251 voters recorded.