GERMAN ELECTION: CDU wins, AfD surges, Scholz's SPD flops

The centre-right Christlich Demokratische Union appears poised to win Germany's election, though with out an outright majority, they will have to form a coalition.

When all was said and done, the CDU in the lead with 28.5% of the vote, while Alternative für Deutschland and centre-left Sozialdemokratische Partei came in at 21% and 16.5%, respectively.

Further down the list were environmental-left Grüne at 11.5% and far-left Die Linke at 9%.

Chancellor Olf Scholz took the heat for overseeing his party's worst performance in modern history.

"This is a bitter election result for the SPD," he told supporters at party headquarters, per CNN. "This is a defeat. It's a result that we will have to put behind us."

The soon-to-be-former leader said the AfD's success was something he'll "never come to terms with."

Lead by Alice Weidel, the AfD nearly doubled its support since the last election, due in large part to its hardline stance on migration.

Despite growing in popularity among the population, the party has been treated as untouchable by other political leaders. CDU head and likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly made it clear any coalition he forms will not include the AfD.

That leaves the SPD, Grüne, and Die Linke to work with.

Merz said he wanted to get to work forming a coalition, though whether he changes his mind and decides to collaborate with the second-place finishers remains to be seen.

In the Bundestag, the CDU now has 208 seats, followed by the AfD at 152, SPD at 120, Grüne at 85, and Die Linke at 64. The regional South Schleswig Voters' Association secured the last seat.

The highly-anticipated election saw the highest turnout in Germany since re-unification in 1990, with 83.5% of eligible voters showing up to cast their ballots.