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Hard Numbers: Germany’s AfD wins biggest prize yet, Chile still chilly on constitutional rewrite, Egypt’s new Pharaoh cruises to third term, Crypto bros target Congress
Björn Höcke, AfD state leader, stands on stage in the hall of the Hotel Pfiffelburg during the AfD's state election meeting.
38.5: Germany’s far right keeps rocking in Germany’s far east. The nationally surging Alternativ für Deutschland, or AfD, got 38.5% of the vote to win the mayoralty of Pirna, a town along the Czech border in former East Germany. To date, it’s the largest German city to come under the control of AfD, which campaigns on extreme anti-immigrant and anti-establishment rhetoric and has run into trouble for links to neo-Nazi groups.
55.8: For the second time in as many years, Chileans rejected a rewrite of the country’s constitution, with 55.8% of voters ticking the “No” box on Sunday. Last year, Chileans nixed a more left-leaning document meant to replace a constitution dating from the Pinochet dictatorship. This time, a more conservative drafting group had the pen, but in a deeply polarized country, the outcome was the same. This is probably the last attempt to rescript the constitution for the foreseeable future – Chileans are exhausted by the failed process and now care more about day-to-day issues like crime and the economy.
89.6: Meanwhile, in a somewhat more predictable election, Egyptian strongman Abdel Fattah el-Sissi won a third term, taking 89.6% of the vote in a contest that was not much of a contest. On the one thing that was worth watching – turnout – Sisi did well, as two-thirds of registered voters went to the polls, which was some 20 points higher than in the last election. That gives him something of a mandate as he confronts painful economic reforms that are required to keep open a crucial IMF credit lifeline.
78 million: It was a rocky year for the cryptocurrency set, with several major scandals denting the reputation of the digital coin, but the industry is looking to change hearts and minds – and votes – next year, amassing a $78 million war chest for Capitol Hill lobbying. The crypto-PACs will press lawmakers to craft “responsible regulation” that addresses the risks of crypto without choking off innovation.