German Election Nitty-Gritty

Women dominate

Among Germany's 61.9 million eligible voters, 2.5 million more women than men are registered to cast ballots. A total of 32.2 million women and 29.7 million men have the right to vote.

Power to the seniors

Nearly one-third of Germany's voters -- 19.7 million -- are 60 years old or more. Young voters, below 21, who have the opportunity to cast ballots in their first general election, make up 4.2 percent of the total. Germans are eligible to vote from age 18, and 2.6 million of them are registered.

Candidates and parties

All told, 3,648 candidates are running for seats in Germany's house of parliament, the Bundestag, including 936 women. Their average age is 46. Twenty-five parties are vying for votes.

Election precincts and polling stations

Voters are casting ballots in 299 election precincts for 598 Bundestag seats. Around 80,000 polling stations are open on Sunday, and there Germans will be assisted by 630,000 election helpers.

Absentee ballots

Germans abroad are thought to have sent in around 50,000 valid absentee ballots, according to Federal Election Commissioner Johann Hahlen. Only those absentee ballots received by the Friday previous to the election will be counted.

Voter turnout

Since German unification in 1990, voter turnout has dropped significantly. During the general election in 2002, 79.1 percent of the country's voters went to the polls, putting Germany in the mid-range of Western countries. Until the late 1980s, voter participation was consistently above 84 percent.

In 1972, the electorate positively flooded the polls in the biggest turnout ever, when 91.1 percent of voters cast ballots in a general election that had become a poll about Chancellor Willy Brandt's controversial Ostpolitik focussed on improving relations with Eastern Bloc countries and the German Democratic Republic. The lowest turnout was recorded for the first election in reunited Germany, in 1990, when only 77.8 percent of voters cast ballots.

Election costs

The 2005 campaigns, the shortest in German postwar history, will cost the parties an estimated 60 million euros ($74 million). The 2002 election campaigns, which went on considerably longer, cost the parties around 68 million euros.

Incumbent Chancellor Gerhard's Schröder's Social Democrats have been spending the most: 25 million euros. Conservative challenger Angela Merkel's CDU is expected to shell out all of 18 million euros for their campaign, and their Bavarian sister party, the CSU, 5 million euros. The Green party has invested around 3.8 million euros, the free-market liberal FDP 3.5 million euros, and the newly formed Left Party 4 million euros.
The parties foot the bill themselves as well as receiving subsidies on the basis of German campaign financing laws.