In front of the polling station in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: “The AfD is too lax for me”

“I have to be careful with the AfD,” the young man explains immediately, without being asked. If they had something to say, he says, he would fear for his job. It's Sunday morning, the sun is shining, he's standing in front of the hall gymnasium. The community, in which almost 1,500 people live, is around an hour's drive east of Rostock.

It is the first state election for the 18-year-old. He is training to become an industrial mechanic at Nordex, a manufacturer of wind turbines. “AfD is against wind energy, as far as I know.” If it weren't for that, he would "most likely" have voted for the party. Instead, he gave his first vote to the BSW and his second vote to the FDP. The most important issue for him is rental prices. “I already pay 600 euros for my one-room apartment.”

And what does he like about “the Blues” – as everyone calls the AfD up here? “Yes, there are a few points.” Which ones? “I don’t know, so…” he squirms at first. His friend, who is standing next to him in the parking lot, says that he voted for AfD with both votes. He refuses to answer the reasons. Was the right-wing extremist party shown to the young man a lot on social media? “No, I see the left the most,” he says. But no one here chooses them – at least none of the 20 or so people that the taz happens to address.

After a bit of hesitation, his friend then took courage: “Well, I just like this remigration topic with the Blues.” But if you ask him about a specific wish, he says: “That people who come to Germany are supported more.”

The most important concern for a 47-year-old nurse from Saal, however, is: "Don't vote for the AfD. They are an absolute no-go." The mother of three says this loud and clear. “Everyone here can hear that.” Because daycare places are important to her, she voted for the SPD with the first vote. The ÖDP got its second vote. “The Wahl-O-Mat suggested that to me.” The small party will not make it into the state parliament. But that doesn't matter to the woman: "I think it's good that they support the farmers and the forestry up here."

“Everything, just everything” is great about the AfD, say Maria and Marco. The couple came to the polling station on big mountain bikes and initially complained about the fuel prices. The construction machine operator from the small village of Kückenshagen voted for AfD with both votes. It was the first state election in his life in which the 41-year-old took part, he says. “Because there was simply no one there before who convinced me.”

Construction machine operator Marco doesn't expect that the AfD will keep everything it promises. “But the others didn’t do anything,” he says. He repeatedly comes up with federal political issues. "In MV it doesn't really bother me that much. We live well here," he says. And adds: “I don’t want to live in Berlin, where there are parts of the city that the police no longer dare to go into.” When pointed out that these districts don't exist in reality, he says: "Good," then he continues to complain - about pension reform, national debt, the education system.

In the background there is a group of Saalers with two children, Kippen and a fighting dog. “Your slip is already in,” a woman who is obviously a poll worker greets a tall, strong man with many tattoos. “Is my cross already on it?” he asks and laughs. “As Stalin said: elections are won by those who count them,” says another. Laughter again. When another member of the troop comes out of the gym, he announces that he has voted for the NPD. “The AfD is too lax for me.” However, the NPD, which is now called “Die Heimat”, is not even on the ballot paper here.

“When I hear that, ugh!” a man whispers to the reporter from the other side of the parking lot. “It upsets me that people are falling for the Blues,” says the man in his mid-sixties. He doesn't think they will do anything for education. He keeps trying to talk to his neighbors in Saal, but it's no use. “They are stubborn and they fall for it just like people did in 1933.” The man is a history teacher. Then he gets on his bike and rides away.

The 18-year-old AfD voter rushes towards him; he is completely out of breath. “Would it be possible for you not to write my name in the newspaper?” he asks the reporter. He spoke briefly to his mother at home. It's a small village, everyone knows everyone up here and he's afraid of having problems with his training place. The reporter calms him down and promises not to mention his name. The young man thanks you and says: “Maybe next time I’ll choose something different.”