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German voters punish Merkel's conservatives in state votes

Published 03/13/2016, 01:13 PM
© Reuters. Andre Poggenburg of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party arrives at the state parliament in Magdeburg

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives lost in two out of three state elections on Sunday as Germans punished her accommodative refugee policy with a big vote for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), exit polls showed.

The losses in both Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland Palatinate represented a worst-case scenario for Merkel, who has staked her legacy on her decision last year to open Germany's doors to over 1 million migrants - a move voters snubbed.

The backlash was also visible in Saxony-Anhalt in former East Germany, where Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) remained the largest party but saw the AfD grab 21.5 percent of the vote as it burst into all three regional parliaments.

© Reuters. Andre Poggenburg of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party arrives at the state parliament in Magdeburg

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