Initial exit polls give the centre - right Christian Democrats ( CDU ) a narrow lead over the far - right Alternative for Germany ( AfD ) in parliamentary elections in the eastern German state of Saxony . Projections from public broadcasters ARD and ZDF forecast the CDU to finish with nearly a third of the vote in Saxony , while the AfD was forecast to finish between 0 . 5 and 1 . 5 percentage points behind . The upstart populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance ( BSW ), which has campaigned on a mix of left - wing economic policy and right - wing messages on immigration , is forecast to finish third . dpa and vrb xxde bst eraSource: The Namibia News Agency