Protests held in eastern Germany as far-right leads ahead of state elections

Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Hundreds of protestors took to the streets in the German city of Erfurt Saturday to demonstrate against the far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party ahead of Sunday's state elections.

The AfD continues to lead the polls in the state of Thuringia, of which Erfurt is the capital.

Thuringia and the state of Saxony both hold elections for their regional parliaments Sunday.

Saturday's protests in Erfurt were organized by the Auf die Plätze alliance, which translates in English to "On Your Marks."

In late June, the AfD party re-elected Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla to another two-year team as its joint leaders amid violent protests in the western German city of Essen.

Weidel, the party's federal chairwoman, and top party candidate Björn Höcke are both expected to be in Erfurt Sunday for the election.

Höcke has twice been found guilty of using Nazi slogans while campaigning. Using the slogans in political speeches are banned in Germany.

"We will not allow the AfD to dominate the election weekend with their extreme right-wing agitation, intimidate people and misuse our city as a stage for their propaganda," the alliance said in a statement to German media on Saturday.

The AfD has campaigned on tighter immigration rules and lessening domestic government restrictions.

"The people who live here have already experienced what it is like when the government starts to interfere too much," Thuringia AfD candidate Vivien Rottstedt told the BBC in an interview. "People from eastern Germany know exactly what it's like when you're no longer allowed to express your own opinion."