Politics
14:55, 24-Sep-2017
Polls open for German election as Merkel seeks fourth term
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Germans are going to the polls in a national election which is likely to see Angela Merkel win a historic fourth term as Chancellor, and the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party win its first seats in the national parliament.
Polling stations opened at 08:00 local time (0600 GMT) and will close at 18:00 (1600 GMT) on Sunday.
A total of 61.5 million German voters are eligible to vote in the election.
Surveys suggest Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU alliance has a double-digit lead over their nearest rivals, the Social Democrats.
Four smaller parties, including the AfD, are battling it out for third place.
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