Bavaria's Deputy Premier Faces Hefty Fine Over Untimely Exit Poll

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2021) Bavaria's deputy premier Hubert Aiwanger came under criticism on Sunday for publishing an alleged exit poll before the Federal election closed and now faces a fine.

The leader of the Free Voters party tweeted the preliminary election results hours before the voting was to end, but he quickly deleted the tweet.

Photos of the tweet were shared online but the estimates were blurred per Germany's strict election laws.

The caption read "Give the last votes to us, Free Voters!" in what is a gross violation of a ban on campaigning.

Martin Hagen, of the liberal Free Democratic Party, said what Aiwanger did was illegal and could cost him at least 50,000 Euros ($58,600) in penalties.

Markus Blume, the head of the Christian Social Union, a sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, called Aiwanger's act an "unbelievable case of election manipulation and voter influence."