Berlin, Germany – The German federal election results are in, with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) set to be the strongest force in the new Bundestag, according to preliminary counts from the Federal Returning Officer. The CDU and CSU are projected to hold 28.5% of the vote, followed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 20.8%, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 16.4%, the Green Party with 11.6% and the Left Party with 8.8%.
The results indicate that the Bund Frei Wählen (BSW) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) will not enter the Bundestag, with the BSW falling just short of the 5% threshold and the FDP receiving only 4.3% of the vote. The smaller parties, including the Free Voters, the Animal Protection Party and Volt, also failed to reach the 5% mark, while the Die Partei, Bündnis Deutschland and the ÖPD received less than 1% of the vote.
The Südschleswigsche Wählerverband (SSW) received 0.2% of the vote, but may still secure a seat in the Bundestag due to a minority representation rule.
The results also show that several smaller parties, including the Team Todenhöfer, the Pirate Party, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany and the Werteunion, did not receive enough votes to be represented in the Bundestag.
The Federal Returning Officer has not yet released the exact seat distribution, but projections indicate the CDU and CSU will hold around 208 seats, the AfD 152, the SPD 120, the Green Party 85 and the Left Party 64. A possible coalition between the CDU and the Greens would not have a majority, while a “Grand Coalition” between the CDU and the SPD is considered the most likely option.