German election 2025 Live results: according to the numbers | Election messages

About 59 million Germans were able to vote in Snap elections to decide who will rule the largest economy in the euro zone.

Voices are now counted all over Germany in which around 59 million citizens were entitled to vote in Snap elections to decide who will rule the largest economy in the euro zone for the next four years.

The surveys were opened at 8 a.m. (7:00 a.m.) and closed at 6 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT).

Here are the latest results of the federal returnee who monitors the elections:

According to Germany's electoral authority, 52 percent of the legitimate voters had given their ballot papers four hours before the polling stations were closed.

When will we know the final results?

The first local constituencies started around 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. GMT) with the report of the results.

The overall result should quickly become clear if the final official results are expected in the early Monday.

Who are the most important candidates and parties?

This year, 29 political parties will take part in the elections, a decline compared to the 47, which were controversial in 2021.

The main parties are:

1. CDU/CSU – The Christian Democratic Union is headed by Friedrich Merz, who is also the block of chancellor of the block. The Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party of the CDU, is run by Markus Soder.
2. AfD -The alternative for Germany is managed by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla with Weidel as a candidate for chancellor at the AfD.
3. SPD -The Social Democratic Party is headed by Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil. Olaf Scholz is the party's candidate for the Chancellor and the incumbent Chancellor.
4. Allianz 90/The Greens – It is Co-led by Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak, and Robert Habeck is his candidate for chancellor and the current Vice Chancellor.
5. The left -The party is managed by Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken with Heidi Reichinnek and van Aken as chancellor candidates.
6. BSW – The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance is headed by Sahra Wagenknecht, the party candidate for the party.
7. FDP – The Free Democratic Party is headed by Christian Lindner, who also acts as the main candidate for the party.

What do the latest surveys indicate?

The conservative CDU supports the surveys with 30 percent. The right -wing extremist AfD is expected to win around 20 percent of the vote, while the SPD, which the former coalition government led, supports 15 percent.

How does the vote work?

German citizens will vote twice: once for a local parliamentary member and secondly for a party. One party must receive at least 5 percent of the national votes to enter the Bundestag, the chosen chamber of the two -chamber parliament.

The second vote is considered the most important and is most frequently reported on the election night because it determines the number of seats that a party in the Bundestag and the strength of a party within a coalition government in which it could participate in.

Whichever party ensures most of the seats nominates a candidate as a chancellor and the new Bundestag will vote. The candidate has to ensure an absolute majority in order to be sworn in as a new guide in the country.

Germany's current distribution of seats

The Bundestag has a base of 598, but can expand and reach 733 seats in 2021, the largest in its history. A reform of 2023 is now limited to 630 seats.

What are the main problems?

A sluggish economy, immigration and the Ukraine war were the most important problems in the campaign.

Surveys suggested that many voters want to pay less tax, but that will be difficult. Germany has been in a recession for two years and its key industries are fighting to remain competitive.

Unemployment is more than 6 percent, and the debt brake, which limits the government's borrowing, also causes problems.

Who could be Germany's next chancellor?

A coalition government is likely to be formed because a party has never won an absolute majority. The only time that a single parliamentary group secured a majority was the parliamentary term from 1957 to 1961 when the CDU/CSU won elections in West Germany.

Whichever party ensures most votes nominates a candidate as a chancellor, and the new Bundestag will vote on the person. The candidate has to ensure an absolute majority in order to be sworn in as a guide.

Here are the Chancellor candidates of the four best parties:

• Merz, 69, according to the polls, is the leader. He became the leader of the CDU after former Chancellor Angela Merkel resigned in 2021.
• Pasture46, the anti-immigration has headed together since 2017.
• Scholz66, the SPD has been a chancellor since December 2021.
• Habeck55 is the candidate who represents the Greens. He is the current Vice Chancellor as well as the Minister of Economics and Climate.