The fact that federal elections are being held early is also reflected in the figures: there are fewer parties and candidates participating. After the electoral reform, the Bundestag is also shrinking.
Voters
According to the Federal Statistical Office: 59.2 million people are eligible to vote in the February 23 elections in Germany: around 1.2 million fewer than in 2021. 30.6 million are women and 28.6 million are men.
2.3 million young people are voting for the first time - representing 3.9 percent of all eligible voters. Due to the early election date, about 400,000 fewer young people can now vote because they are not yet 18 years old.
Bundestag
After the electoral reform, the number of members of parliament is limited to a maximum of 630. The 21st Bundestag will have more than a hundred fewer members. There are currently 733 members. Now only the second vote decides the distribution of seats in parliament.
The parties
29 parties are participating in the Bundestag elections, significantly fewer than in the last elections in 2021, when 47 parties were admitted. The SPD, the Greens, the FDP, the AfD, the Left, the Free Voters, the Volt, the MLPD, the Alliance for Germany and the Sahra Wagenlnecht Alliance are represented with state lists in all 16 states. All other parties are not on the ballot in all states. For example, the CDU is represented everywhere except Bavaria, while the CSU is only in Bavaria.
Candidates
The number of candidates for MPs is 4,506, significantly lower than the 2021 elections, when there were 6,211.
There are five candidates for chancellor - There have never been so many candidates for chancellor. Friedrich Merz (CDU) is running for the Union, the chancellor, Olaf Scholz for the SPD and Robert Habeck for the Greens. The AfD has nominated Alice Weidel, while the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht, BSW has nominated a candidate for chancellor, Sahra Wagenknecht.
For federal elections, Germany is divided into 299 electoral districts.
About 675,000 election workers are expected to be on duty in Sunday's elections./ DW (A2 Televizion)
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