Merkel's Conservatives & Rival SPD Neck And Neck: Exit Polls

Outgoing Chancellor’s Bloc Heading Towards Worst-Ever Result Since 1949

PARTYING TOO SOON? Supporters of center-left SPD celebrate after the exit poll results at the party’s headquarters in Berlin

Berlin: Germany’s center-left Social Democrats were locked in a very close race on Sunday with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right CDU/CSU conservative bloc, which is heading toward its worst-ever result in the country’s parliamentary election, projections showed.

Top officials from both parties said they hope to lead Germany’s next government and have their candidates succeed Merkel, who has been in power since 2005. Projections for ARD public television, based on exit polls and early counting, put voters’ support at 24.9% for the Social Democrats (SPD) — which is putting forth outgoing Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz for chancellor — and 24.7% for Merkel’s Union bloc under would-be successor state governor Armin Laschet.