March 26 (UPI) -- Conservatives captured the most votes for the parliamentary elections in the western German state of Saarland on Sunday -- a good sign of support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel going into her September national vote.
The Christian Democrats won 40.5 percent of the votes, compared with 30 percent for the Social Democrats, far-left Die Linke at 13 percent and populist right-wing Alternative for Germany at 6 percent, according to exit polls by Infratest Dimap from public broadcaster ARD on Sunday night.