A total of 630 parliamentary seats are up for grabs as over 59 million Germans are eligible to vote, according to official statistics.
CDU candidate Friedrich Merz, 69, is likely to become the country’s next chancellor, and his party’s coalition with its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) has been leading opinion polls with 30 percent support, according to DW.
Merz has pledged to tighten Germany’s borders and revive his country’s economy, but his party has faced public backlash after cooperating with the AfD on an anti-immigration bill they tried to pass last month.
A recent poll published by DW revealed that immigration and economic issues topped the list of the most pressing problems for German voters.
Merz’s CDU will need to secure an alliance with at least one other party to form the government, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats the most likely pick.
Support is also at an all-time high for the AfD, a far-right party that opposes migration. The party has also publicly condoned mass deportations.
