After the local elections in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, 162 seats are still vacant, 120 of them for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the state’s election official said upon request.
In the local elections in early June, the AfD emerged victorious with 28.1% of the vote, narrowly beating the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 26.8%.
However, not all seats could be filled. In some cases, this is because parties received more votes than they can accept based on their lists, a spokeswoman for the state election officer said.
Meanwhile, some candidates have not accepted their mandate, she added.
There were around 4,400 seats up for grabs in the Saxony-Anhalt city and district council elections, of which around 3.7% – or 162 seats – are now vacant. According to local electoral law, they can only be filled after a new election term has begun.