Q: How important are the results?
Angela Merkel's conservatives lost out in two out of three regional state elections today as Germans gave a thumbs-down to her accommodating refugee policy with a big vote for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD). Although likely to wound Merkel, the German Chancellor will not have to fear the impact on her position. But her party will now be asking: is it time to change the country's handling of the refugee crisis?
Q: What are the German state elections?
Germany, like the US, has a federal system. While Merkel doesn't face national elections until next year, the 16 federal states each have their own parliaments and hold elections on their own timetables. Three state elections coincided today.