Germany's election system explained: How ballots work

When Germans go to the polls on Sunday, they will be asked to cast two votes: the first is for their constituency choice, and the second, and more important, is for a party. This will decide how many seats a party gets in the parliament or Bundestag.

The length of the ballot sheet can be quite long, depending on how many parties qualify to run.

In total, the Federal Returning Officer has registered 29 parties nationwide, including the traditional parties, but also more unconventional parties, such as the Pirate Party, Party of Humanists, and the Animal Protection Party. This can vary in every election.

For any party to have seats in the Bundestag, it must win a minimum of 5% of those second votes. However, if a party with less than 5% wins at least three constituencies, it will then receive as many parliamentary seats as it has share of the party votes.

This measure had been abolished by the previous government but was brought back by the Federal Constitutional Court last summer.

Previously there were 736 MPs in the Bundestag. However, new electoral reforms enacted two years ago have limited that number to 630, of which 299 will go to constituency winners across the country. Constituencies are defined by population.

This year, 59.2 million Germans are eligible to vote; 30.6 million are women, and 28.6 million are men. While polls showed the country’s center-right CDU/CSU on top, followed by the far-right Alternative for Deutschland, surveys show there are upwards of 14 million undecided voters heading into election day.

Election forecasts are announced shortly after the polls close at 6 p.m. local time. These are based on voter surveys at select voting stations on election day, in addition to early counting of ballots.

The Federal Returning Officer then announces a provisional election result based on the first reports from state election authorities. The final, accurate result will be published by the Federal Election Committee roughly three weeks after the election.

If one party does not receive 51% of the vote, it will have to find other parties to govern with, which could take weeks.

Once a coalition government is defined, members will vote for the country's next chancellor, who is usually the leader of the party with the largest number of votes.