02:02Germany's federal election officer Georg Thiel said that he expected participation in the country's general election to be similar or 'even slightly higher,' than at the last election in Berlin on Sunday.
Thiel said that while voter participation was down at polling stations, at '36.5 percent' up until the early afternoon, vs '41.1 percent' by the same time in the 2017 vote.
The election official explained, however, that there were significantly higher rates of postal voting amid the pandemic and that total turnout was therefore expected to be similar.
For the first time in 16 years, the election is taking place without the participation of the incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Social Democrat's Olaf Scholz and the Christian Democratic Union's Armin Laschet are neck-and-neck in the lead, according to the latest polls, with Scholz marginally ahead.
Germany: Fed elex officer says he expects participation to be 'similar' to 2017 or 'even slightly higher'
Germany's federal election officer Georg Thiel said that he expected participation in the country's general election to be similar or 'even slightly higher,' than at the last election in Berlin on Sunday.
Thiel said that while voter participation was down at polling stations, at '36.5 percent' up until the early afternoon, vs '41.1 percent' by the same time in the 2017 vote.
The election official explained, however, that there were significantly higher rates of postal voting amid the pandemic and that total turnout was therefore expected to be similar.
For the first time in 16 years, the election is taking place without the participation of the incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Social Democrat's Olaf Scholz and the Christian Democratic Union's Armin Laschet are neck-and-neck in the lead, according to the latest polls, with Scholz marginally ahead.
Germany's federal election officer Georg Thiel said that he expected participation in the country's general election to be similar or 'even slightly higher,' than at the last election in Berlin on Sunday.
Thiel said that while voter participation was down at polling stations, at '36.5 percent' up until the early afternoon, vs '41.1 percent' by the same time in the 2017 vote.
The election official explained, however, that there were significantly higher rates of postal voting amid the pandemic and that total turnout was therefore expected to be similar.
For the first time in 16 years, the election is taking place without the participation of the incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Social Democrat's Olaf Scholz and the Christian Democratic Union's Armin Laschet are neck-and-neck in the lead, according to the latest polls, with Scholz marginally ahead.