German election: Voters turn out to decide next government

The mood among the Greens at their election party in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin sits somewhere between anxiety and hope, DW correspondent Jens Thureau reports.

With less than an hour until the initial results are rolled out, big party names have not yet arrived at the gathering.

The conversations in the corridors and in the main hall revolve more around the current geopolitical situation than the actual election result. Many are wondering what will happen if US President Trump gets serious and abandons support for Ukraine. The gravity of the situation seems to weigh more heavily than whether the Greens end up with 12 or 14% of the vote in today's election.

Some 3 to 4 million German citizens live outside the country, although not all are eligible to vote. Around 213,000 Germans living abroad had registered to vote in Sunday's election.

It was a significant jump from the 129,000 in the last nationwide parliamentary election in 2021.

But many of the potential voters did not receive their ballots in time.  

Monika Schroeder, who lives in the US state of Pennsylvania, told DW that she received her ballot materials on Friday, just two days before the vote. 

"I'm upset and feel powerless, because every vote counts," Schroeder said.

She is now considering joining a class action lawsuit after the election. 

On Friday, Germany's Federal Returning Officer Ruth Brand said her office had received complaints about election documents that had not yet arrived or had only just arrived at their destinations in foreign countries.

She said her office has done everything "to make it easier for Germans living abroad to vote by post," but added that "neither the electoral bodies nor the German authorities can influence the postal delivery abroad."

German voters do not directly elect their country's head of government. Rather, the position of chancellor is determined by the parties who form the government. Generally, that means the leader of the largest party.

But that doesn't mean that voters don't have their preferences, as this poll by public broadcaster ARD revealed earlier in February:

 

DW's livestream on the election is available on our TV channel, on YouTube, or in the window above. Follow us for minute-by-minute election coverage.

 

Exit polls are scheduled at 6 p.m. local time with projections that are regularly updated. Polls have so far been quite accurate, though official results will likely not be known until Monday.

It will likely take weeks or months before a new government or a ruling coalition takes shape.

Preliminary polling data has revealed a potentially high turnout at this year's German election.

As of 2 p.m. German time, four hours before polls are set to close, turnout was calculated at around 52% —  a significant increase on the 36.5% recorded at the same stage in 2021. The previous parliamentary election concluded with a turnout at 76.4%.

A higher turnout at polling stations this year could be linked to a reduction in the number of postal votes compared to 2021, when Germany was still in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the latest figures are also considerably higher than the 2017 election, when the turnout was at 41% by mid-afternoon.

The number of parties vying for seats in the German parliament is on the rise. While this reflects a diverse political landscape, it also brings challenges: forming a stable majority and creating a functional government is becoming increasingly difficult.

DW chief political correspondent Nina Haase explained that Germany's Social Democrat Chancellor (SPD) Olaf Scholz remains confident in his cautious approach to foreign policy.

As chancellor, Scholz launched an effort to modernize Germany's military after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and made Germany Ukraine's second-biggest weapons supplier.

But he remained steadfast in his decision not to give Ukraine Taurus long-range missiles and stressed the need to act "prudently" even when pressure grew.

Friedrich Merz, chancellor candidate and leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) has shifted the party "back to the conservative camp" and remains in "favor of supplying" Taurus missiles if other partners agree, explained DW's chief political editor Michaela Küfner.

The far-right AfD has emerged as the "most anti-immigrant party" as efforts to curb migration rise to the top of voters' minds. The AfD is "the most anti-immigrant party," said DW's political correspondent, Matthew Moore, adding that it "will probably be the biggest opposition party." The faction is keen to build relations with Russia, as well as reopen nuclear power plants as a way to secure Germany's energy supply.

A 33-year-old man reportedly drew a knife at a polling station in the western German city of Krefeld and threatened another person.

According to local police, the man had already voted but had shouted "insults" and accused polling station helpers of election rigging.

The knife, which he did not use, was confiscated and the man was issued with a dispersal order.

Criminal charges are expected to follow.

"Jamaica," "traffic light" and "blackberry" are terms used to describe coalition governments because of party colors. Which is which? 

Bayern Munich great Uli Hoeness has added his voice to public criticism of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

"If one of our players suddenly started promoting the AfD, I'd have a word with them and ask if they've still got all their toys in the attic," he told Kicker magazine, Germany's leading football outlet.

Hoeness, the legendary Bayern player and club head, is now in semi-retirement as honorary president, but remains a hugely influential voice in German football and beyond.

Last year, at a service celebrating the life of the late Franz Beckenbauer, Hoeness had praised his former colleague for his role in bringing the 2006 World Cup to Germany – albeit in dubious circumstances.

"Do you remember the thousands of people across the country waving black, red and gold flags?" he said. "Because they were proud of our country. And that is where we have to return to. But I don't want that to involve the AfD."

Speaking to Kicker on Sunday, he reiterated: "More than 50% of our youth players have a migratory background. Bayern is a wonderful example of migration and integration."

Polling stations in the states of Saxony, Lower Saxony, Saxony Anhalt and Thuringia have reported slightly increased turnout compared to the last federal election in 2021, as have cities including Bremen, Cologne, Munich and Nuremberg.

In the western city of Duisburg, in Germany's formerly industrial Ruhr valley in North Rhine-Westphalia, one constituency is determined to increase turnout after recording only 63% in 2021 – the lowest in Germany.

The city council has run an advertising campaign on radio, billboards, social media calling on residents to vote. And it seems to have affected at least one voter, a 44-year-old man who told Spiegel magazine that he was voting for the first time.

"I don't feel secure here anymore," he said, claiming that, while he is explicitly not against migrants, there are too many who "don't stick to the rules."

"What would Germany be without foreigners? Nothing," he said, explaining how he grew up with Albanians and Turks who he considers close friends. But he said that, nowadays, his 13-year-old daughter has to be back home by 5 p.m. every evening and that there was too much litter and too much poverty.

Therefore, he is voting because he wants "clear rules, clear boundaries."

Regulating migration is one of the most debated topics in German politics. And party views differ greatly, with some politicians happy with temporary border checks while others demand a complete overhaul of asylum rights. DW gives you an overview:

Thank you for following our coverage of German parliamentary elections from our online newsroom in Bonn, where new reporters are arriving after casting their ballots. Editors Darko Janjevic and Jenipher Camino Gonzalez, as well as writers Matt Ford and Nik Martin, will be with you throughout the afternoon.