BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives strengthened their position as the largest party in an election in the small state of Saarland on Sunday, in a boost to her quest to win a fourth term in Germany's Sept. 24 national election, exit polls showed.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) fetched 41 percent of the vote in the Saarland, up from 35.2 percent in the last election there in 2012, an exit poll for broadcaster ARD showed. The Social Democrats (SPD) won 29.5 percent, down from 30.6 percent. [L5N1H308W]