According to the original draft, the Bundestag should always have 598 seats.
(Photo: IMAGO/Future Image)
Berlin The members of the Bundestag agree to the electoral law reform. Of the 684 ballots cast, 400 voted in favor of the bill and 261 voted no. There were 23 abstentions.
With the reform, the Bundestag, which has grown to 736 MPs, is to be permanently reduced to 630 seats from the next election. The reduction is to be achieved by completely dispensing with overhang and equalization mandates. So far, these have caused the Bundestag to be bloated.
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Overhang mandates arise when a party wins more seats in the Bundestag via direct mandates than it is entitled to based on the result of the second vote. You can keep those seats. The other parties receive compensatory mandates in return. According to the new rules, it could happen in the future that an applicant wins his constituency directly, but still does not get into the Bundestag. This angers the CSU in particular.
In addition, a strict five percent clause should apply. The basic mandate clause does not apply. So far, it has ensured that parties with the strength of their second vote result in the Bundestag also entered the Bundestag if they were less than five percent but won at least three direct mandates.
The Left Party benefited from this in 2021. If the clause is deleted, depending on the election result, this could also have consequences for the CSU in the future.
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