2025 German federal election
Today (February 23rd) citizens of 🇩🇪 Germany go to polls to vote in federal parliamentary elections. These are snap ones, only fourth time since beginning of Federal Republic in 1949 (previous snap elections happened in 2005).
German parliament is bicameral, and is made of two chambers: upper Bundesrat (Federal Council), which isn't directly elected (its' 69 members are appointed by states), and lower Bundestag, which since this election, will consist of fixed number of 630 deputies (316 needed for majority). They are elected for a four-year term, using a mixed system: 299 seats are elected directly (first-past-the post), in single-member constituencies; and remaining 331 are filled based on "party list votes" (casted by voters alongside above direct ones), to produce a proportional representation, using Sainte-Laguë method. Read more here. To pass the electoral threshold, party must either win at least three constituencies in direct votes; get 5% (national) in second (party list) ones (usual cause); or represent national minority (rare cases, only one which managed to get a single seat were Schleswig Danes in 1949 and 2021).
Turnout in last (September 2021) elections was 76.4%.
Relevant parties and alliances taking part in the elections are:
| Name | Leader | Position | Affiliation | 2021 result | Recent polling | Exit poll | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union parties (CDU/CSU) | Friedrich Merz | centre-right (conservative) | EPP | 24.1% | 28-30% | 29% | |
| Alternative for Germany (AfD) | Alice Weidel | right-wing (nationalist, pro-Russia) | ESN | 10.4% | 20-21% | 19.5% | |
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | Olaf Scholz | centre-left (social democrat) | S&D | 25.7% | 15-16% | 16% | |
| Greens (Grünen) | Robert Habeck | centre-left (social liberal) | Greens/EFA | 14.7% | 12-14% | 13.5% | |
| Left (Linke) | Jan van Aken & Heidi Rechinnek | left-wing (democrat socialist) | PEL | 4.9% | 7-8% | 8.5% | |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | Christian Lindner | centre-right (liberal) | ALDE | 11.4% | 4-5% | 4.9% | |
| Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) | Sahra Wagenknecht | left-wing (social nationalist) | new | 5% | 4.7% |
Exit poll (usually very precise in Germany) should be available after 6 PM (CEST).
Further reading
We shall leave detailed commentary (and any interesting trivia) on elections and campaign, to our users, or anyone else with worthy knowledge. Feel free to correct or add anything.