Anti-Mass Migration AfD Most Popular Party Among Young Voters in Germany

The anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany populist party was the most popular among young voters in Sunday’s regional elections, as analysis finds that establishment warnings of the rise of the so-called “far-right” are being dismissed by many self-described “centrist” youths.

The local elections held in two eastern German states over the weekend saw young voters flock to the right-wing populist AfD, helping drive the party to its first major election win in the state of Thuringia and a narrow second-place finish in neighbouring Saxony.

According to an analysis by the Elections Research Group, 36 per cent of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 backed the Alternative for Germany in Thuringia, by far the most for any party and 11 per cent more than the previous election in 2019, broadcaster NTV reports.

Comparatively, the centre-right neo-liberal Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Left party tied for second place in Thuringia at 13 per cent.

Meanwhile, in Saxony, 30 per cent of young voters backed the AfD, a spike of nine points over the last election five years ago. Again, the CDU, the party which under former Chancellor Angela Merkel first “opened the gates” to mass migration, trailed in a distant second with 15 per cent among 18 to 29-year-olds.

The results back up a growing trend of young people backing the anti-mass migration party, with a survey in April putting the AfD as the top choice for Germans between 14 and 29-years-old nationwide.

German political psychologist Rüdiger Maas said that to many young voters, even those who consider themselves political centrists, the Alternative for Germany “is not perceived as immediately right-wing extremist.”

“Many young people told us: ‘The right-wing extremists won’t do anything to us, they’re not evil. Older people in particular seem to see this danger. This is completely underestimated,” he added.

Maas said that traditional political divisions of left and right are becoming less important to young voters and therefore “these extreme parties don’t slip to the margins.”

The researcher also noted that AfD populists also appear to have more success on social media compared to establishment parties like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, who suffered humiliating results in both Thuringia and Saxony, where the governing party only managed single-digit support in the votes.

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