As the polling stations close on Sunday at 6 pm and the first projections are published, a significant portion of the German population is expected to gather in front of their TV sets. According to a survey by the IT industry association Bitkom, 84 percent of Germans plan to watch the election results live on television.
Twenty-one percent of the respondents intend to follow the election results online through news portals and social media, while five percent plan to share their opinions on the results on social media. The proportion of those who plan to share their opinions is significantly higher among the 18- to 29-year-olds, at 11 percent, compared to the other age groups, where the figure ranges from three to six percent.
For most, the election results will also be discussed with others. A majority of 78 percent plan to discuss the results with family and friends, with men doing so at a slightly higher rate of 82 percent compared to women at 74 percent. Six percent of the respondents plan to spend the election evening at a voting party or attend a political event. And every tenth person (11 percent) decides to let the election evening pass them by and only inform themselves about the results the next day.