Election Results in Germany Show Impact of New Voting System
The German Federal Returning Officer, Ruth Brand, announced on Monday morning that 23 direct election winners in the federal election missed the cut for the Bundestag due to the new voting system.
The background is that the parties did not receive enough second votes, which ultimately decide how many seats they will occupy in the Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is particularly affected, with 15 direct election winners in Hesse, Schleswig-Holstein, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, as well as three from the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, failing to make the cut despite winning the first votes. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) also suffered in Bremen.
In the new federal states, four Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidates are affected, in the Brandenburg electoral district of Oberhavel-Havelland II, as well as in Rostock, Halle (Saale) and Leipzig.