Overview
- Polling closed at 18:00 across Hessen, where nearly 4.7 million were eligible to vote, and the kumulieren/panaschieren system with ballots carrying up to 93 choices in Frankfurt is prolonging tabulation.
- The state statistical office will publish night‑of trend figures based solely on list votes, with fuller preliminary tallies expected in the next few days and official results projected in two to three weeks.
- Hanau’s mayoral race moves to a 29 March runoff after Maximilian Bieri (SPD) led with about 48.1% ahead of Isabelle Hemsley (CDU) on roughly 35.7% in preliminary results.
- Some contests were decided immediately, including Münster (Hessen), where independent Joachim Schledt won the mayoralty with about 75.9% according to municipal preliminary figures.
- Early trends point to divergent patterns, with the AfD leading in some rural towns such as Büdingen on list‑only counts, while larger cities trend toward the CDU in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, the SPD in Offenbach and Hanau, and the Greens in Darmstadt.