Far-Right AfD Wins Record Vote in German State, Testing a Key Democratic Norm

The far-right AfD party won 45.3% of votes in a German state election on September 6 — the biggest share any party has won there since reunification in 1990. Germany's mainstream parties have long followed an unwritten rule: never govern with the AfD. That rule is custom, not law. Whether it survives this result is now the key question.