Hesse has voted: The CDU is ahead nationwide in the local elections. Counting continues on Tuesday too. In many municipalities it has already been decided how the seats on the committees will be distributed.

+++ Update from March 17th, 9:09 a.m.: The municipal elections have been counted in almost all municipalities in the region. Only in the city of Fulda is the result still pending. Counting has been going on again in the city palace since morning. Results are now available from 87 of 102 districts. The CDU is currently at 36.9 percent, which is 1.8 points more than the trend result, but around 5 points less than in 2021. The AfD, as the second force, is at 22.1 percent.

+++ 7.35 p.m.: In Eichenzell, too, all 15 electoral districts have been counted. Compared to the trend result, the CDU was able to gain around 3 percentage points, but with 48.2 percent of the vote it remains below the 50 percent mark. The citizens' list gets 25.9 percent of the votes. The SPD is at 17 percent.

In Gersfeld the votes have also been finally counted: the Alliance for Gersfeld (BfG) is the strongest force with 44.5 percent. In Hilders, the result after today's count only differs from the trend result in the decimal places. The CDU achieved 54.7 percent, the Christian Voters Unity (CWE) achieved 45.3 percent.

Local elections in the Fulda district: CDU clearly ahead in many municipalities

In Nüsttal, the CDU has gained another 4 percentage points and is at 74 percent. The Christian Democrats also achieved an absolute majority in Eiterfeld with 51 percent of the vote. The trend result previously came to 49.4 percent. All results – and the names of the elected candidates – can be found in our interactive election map.

+++ 5:51 p.m.: In most municipalities in the Fulda district, all votes in the municipal elections have been counted. The CDU is clearly in the lead almost everywhere. And almost everywhere the Christian Democrats can make gains compared to the trend result. In large municipalities such as Hünfeld, Künzell, Neuhof, Flieden and Großenlüder, the Union has achieved an absolute majority.

+++ 5:11 p.m.: Künzell has counted all the votes: According to the trend result, the CDU was at 47 percent. After counting the ballot papers, which were cumulated and variegated, the Union came to 50.9 percent and thus won an absolute majority. The CDU is also clearly ahead in the neighboring community of Petersberg: after all votes have been counted, the CDU comes to 48.5 percent; 4 percentage points more than the trend election result on Sunday evening. In Hosenfeld, however, the FWG is ahead with 54 percent.

+++ 4:44 p.m.: Neuhof, Flieden and Großenlüder are the next municipalities in the Fulda district where the results of the local elections have been determined. In Neuhof, after the votes were counted, the CDU jumped over the 50 percent mark (50.8 percent). The AfD achieved 15.3 percent – ​​5 percentage points less than the trend election result. The CDU also gains in Großenlüder and Flieden compared to the trend election results and wins an absolute majority with 56.6 percent (Großenlüder) and 51.4 percent (Flieden).

Local election in a circle Fulda

+++ 4:19 p.m.: Final result in Hünfeld: The CDU wins the city council election with 60.2 percent of the vote. In Hofbieber the Union even achieved 74.8 percent. There is a little surprise in Poppenhausen: In the trend result, the Free Voters were still in the lead; after the personal votes were counted, the CDU was the strongest force with 44.1 percent.

In the city of Fulda, 76 of 102 districts are now counted. The CDU is at 35.7 percent, the AfD is at 24.3 percent and can even increase slightly compared to the trend result. The Union will now hope for postal voting. Most postal voting districts are still pending. And the CDU often does well with postal voters.

+++ 2:41 p.m.: The counting of personal votes is underway. In the city of Fulda, results are now available from half of the electoral districts. Three other district municipalities, Tann, Dipperz and Ehrenberg, are already reporting final results. In Tann the CDU achieved an absolute majority with 57.3 percent, in Dipperz the citizens' list was just above the 50 percent mark with 51.3 percent. Ehrenberg is firmly in the hands of the citizens' list (65.6 percent).

+++ 1:52 p.m.: Burghaun, Kalbach, Bad Salzschlirf and Ebersburg are the first municipalities in the Fulda district to have completely counted the municipal council elections. In Burghaun (58 percent) and Ebersburg (58.4 percent) the CDU achieved an absolute majority, in Kalbach the Union is clearly the strongest force with 43.3 percent. In Bad Salzschlirf, the Free Voters List won the election (48.1 percent), but – unlike the trend result – missed out on an absolute majority.

+++ 12.11 p.m.: Ballot paper by ballot paper is counted: In the city of Fulda, the results are available from around a third of the electoral districts. The CDU currently has 34.7 percent, which is below the trend election result of 36.7 percent. The AfD is the big winner: the party currently has 26.1 percent of the vote. The CDU said on election evening that it hoped to make gains by counting the votes.

Since Monday morning become People's voices counted

Update from 11:06 a.m.: After only the ballot papers with a list cross were counted on election evening, the election workers have been evaluating the personal votes since this morning. The question is: Does this shift the trend results? And if so, who benefits from it? Final results are expected later today, sometimes as late as Tuesday.

New interim results are already available from some cities and communities in the Fulda district. The CDU in Petersberg stands at 47.7 percent after 14 of 21 districts – 2.5 points more than the trend election result from Sunday evening. In Künzell, the CDU has 50.4 percent in 12 of 32 districts and is therefore in the area of ​​an absolute majority. And in Eichenzell the CDU is also benefiting after the first districts have been counted and is currently jumping over the 50 percent mark. There are no new results yet for the city of Fulda.

Fulda

Trend result for Hesse

First report: A long election night lies behind the parties and their candidates. But the election workers also have a long election night behind them – around 1,300 are on duty in the city of Fulda alone. Counting continues today. We will keep you updated throughout the day in this text.

During the night, the state returning officer announced the trend result for Hesse. Nationwide, as with the Local election 2021, the CDU is the strongest force. In second place: the SPD. The state results in detail:

• CDU: 29.7 percent
• SPD: 20.2 percent
• AfD: 15.9 percent
• Greens: 14.4 percent
• Left: 5.8 percent
• FDP: 3.7 percent
• Other: 6.6 percent
• Voter groups: 3.6 percent

Voter turnout was 54.4 percent, slightly higher than in the 2021 local elections (50.4 percent).

Also in In East Hesse, the CDU was able to defend its supremacy: In the district council elections in Fulda, the Christian Democrats won 42.8 percent of the list votes. In the city of Fulda, the CDU has 35.1 percent. The AfD was able to make significant gains and is in second place in the city (23.2 percent) and district (21.9 percent).

On Sunday evening, only the ballot papers were counted where list crosses were marked. All ballot papers that were cumulated and variegated will be counted starting today. Only then will it be clear which party will win how many seats and which candidates will sit in the district council or municipal parliament in the future. This means: After a local election, the days after the election – the “after-election week” – are almost more important than the evening of the election.

In Fulda, the electoral office assumes that the future distribution of seats in the city council will not be determined until Tuesday evening. Counting is carried out in this order: city council assembly (or local council), district council election, local council election, foreigners council election (in Fulda).