Angela Merkel's CDU successor Laschet 'accidentally' folds ballot wrong, reveals vote

As German voters cast ballots on Sunday for a new parliament, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's preferred successor Armin Laschet of the conservative CDU/CSU revealed his vote "by mistake", raging a storm on the internet.

According to a report by news agency, Sputnik, Laschet arrived at a polling station in his hometown of Aachen with his wife on Sunday. While dropping the ballot in the box, he "accidentally" folded the ballot incorrectly which resulted in the revelation of his vote for his own party. 

The incorrect folding of the ballot led to a storm on the internet after the managing editor of KappaNews, Yannis Koutsomitis, shared a photo of Laschet dropping the ballot in the box.

The blunder made social media users wonder whether Laschet had violated the national voting rules, which prohibit revealing election choices until after the polls close. Apprehending the rage over the internet, a federal returning officer responded to the Koutsomitis' post and clarified that Laschet’s vote would not be annulled. “A nationally known politician voted, as expected, for his own party. This cannot be considered election influence … If a ballot is folded incorrectly, the election commission offers another one. If the ballot is already in the ballot box, it can no longer be taken out and is valid,” he wrote.

No party is expected to come anywhere near an outright majority: Exit poll

Voters cast their votes from 8 am on Sunday to elect a new parliament that will decide the successor for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been in office in Germany since 2005. However, trends suggest that Merkel's party, the CDU's remarkable journey will not continue this time.

An exit poll by ARD public television has shown the CDU/CSU bloc -- the centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany-- has won 25% of the vote. According to pre-election polls, this would be a very tight race between the ruling German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) / Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Meanwhile, another exit poll by ZDF public television has put Social Democrats ahead by 24-26%. According to the latest trend, both the exit polls show environmentalist Greens in third place with about 15% support. However, no party is expected to come anywhere near an outright majority. Polls show support for all of them below 30%.

(With inputs from ANI/AP, Image: @ArminLaschet/Twitter)