Court Ruling Rebuffs Part Of Gov't Electoral Reform Plan

A rulingfrom the German Constitutional Court will see the number of seats in Bundestag reduced at the next federal election on course to take place 28 September 2025, while also maintaining the regulation that enables smaller parties to win representation.

• Germany has a complex electoral system for the Bundestag where voters cast two ballots, one for a single member constituency and one for a nationwide list. If a party wins a greater proportion of constituencies than its vote share in the second ballot then it is entitled to additional 'overhang seats'. However, to then make sure that the distribution of seats in the Bundestag matches that of the nationwide vote share, other parties are entitled to 'leveling seats'.
• The ruling protects the 'basic mandate clause'that saw the far-left Die Linke retain representation in 2021 in spite of falling below the 5% nationwide threshold by dint of winning three direct mandates. However, it could see parties like the Bavarian conservative Christian Social Union lose out, the party usually wins a greater proportion of seats via direct mandates than its nationwide vote share would qualify for.
• The governing parties of the 'traffic light' coalition enacted electoral reform in 2023 in an effort to reduce the number of seats from the current 736 to 630. The court ruled that while this number can be reduced, the 5% threshold linked to the basic mandate clause must remain in place as part of a transition period given the short time period to the next election.