Federal election: Why the Young Left or AfD are voting and the Greens are being punished

February 25, 2025, 6:10 p.m.

Reading time: 4 minutes

The demonstrations for democracy, for example in Munich at the beginning of February, brought many young people onto the streets. At least they did not vote for the right wing - but probably often for the left. (Photo: Lorenz Mehrlich)

Left and right wing trend, CDU/CSU, Greens, SPD in the lower positions: The vote of young voters is worrying some political strategists. One youth organization in particular is calling for a radical change of course within their own party.

By Markus Balser , Julian Piepkorn and Vivien Timmler , Berlin

After the long election night, the colored bars of the provisional final result showed a clear picture early on Monday morning: CDU and CSU were by far the strongest force in the federal election . However, not in every age group: If young voters alone could decide on the Bundestag, the picture would look very different. Then the Left would be conducting coalition negotiations. The AfD would also be the second strongest force among young voters. CDU/CSU leader Friedrich Merz, on the other hand, would only come in third. The Greens and Liberals, the former stars of Generation Z, would only be left with a place at the political kids' table.

Some of the first-place candidates' leads were particularly narrow, while in others there were surprises. And for some candidates, their prominence was only of limited help. Ten examples of special duels in the constituencies.