Urging for additional changes in the legislative framework of the Federal Parliament elections, calls have been made by Klöckner.
In the heart of German politics, a significant debate is unfolding regarding the country's electoral law. The focus is on striking a balance between guaranteeing every direct mandate winner a seat in the Bundestag and maintaining the current reduced parliament size of around 630 seats.
This debate stems from a reform introduced by the previous traffic light coalition (SPD, Greens, FDP), which reduced the Bundestag size from 735 to 630 by eliminating the overhang and leveling mandates system. However, this reform has resulted in 23 directly elected constituency winners not receiving their seats, undermining the value of direct mandates and the first vote.
Julia Klöckner, President of the Bundestag and CDU member, has strongly urged revisiting and refining these reforms to restore the integrity of direct mandates. She emphasizes that the current system diminishes democratic principles by allowing winners of constituencies to be excluded from the Bundestag. Klöckner has called for parliamentary groups, especially CDU/CSU, to take the lead in discussing and proposing solutions but has not yet presented a detailed reform plan herself.
The coalition agreement between Union and SPD calls for a change in the electoral law to ensure that every constituency winner gets into the Bundestag. The agreement also includes an examination of how equal representation of women in parliament can be guaranteed. A commission has been set up to present proposals for the renewed reform of the electoral law by the end of this year, as per the coalition agreement.
Various reform models exist and are under consideration, seeking to restore the importance of the first vote while keeping the Bundestag manageable in size. These proposals aim to guarantee that all constituency winners get Bundestag seats, addressing the key problem under the current law where some direct mandate winners are not seated to keep parliament size at 630.
It's worth noting that among those who voted for the CDU or CSU, 50% want to maintain the existing electoral law. On the other hand, only 34% of respondents support a renewed reform of the electoral law. In a YouGov survey commissioned by the German Press Agency, 47% of respondents wanted to keep the current electoral law.
The voting age for Bundestag elections could be lowered to 16 as part of the new reform, according to the coalition agreement. This move, if implemented, would make Germany the eighth European Union country to lower the voting age for national elections.
Three constituencies in Baden-Württemberg and one in Hesse are not represented in the Bundestag at all due to these changes. This situation has sparked concerns about the representation of these regions and the potential impact on their interests in the Bundestag.
In her inaugural speech, Julia Kloeckner expressed the need to combine a significant reduction in the size of the Bundestag with a comprehensible and fair electoral law. The debate surrounding electoral reform remains a live and significant topic in German politics given the constitutional importance of proportional representation balanced with direct mandates in the mixed-member proportional system.
As of early August 2025, no other major alternative proposals or legislative drafts beyond this debate have been reported. The focus remains on the proposals under consideration, seeking to restore the importance of the first vote while keeping the Bundestag manageable in size. The CDU/CSU, led publicly by Klöckner, is pushing for reforms to address these democratic integrity concerns.
[1] Klöckner, Julia. (2025). Inaugural speech of the President of the Bundestag. Berlin, Germany. Retrieved from https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/1340209/9839973/502553f68f4f0911808a2b1f8b944302/2025-06-24-redetext-kl%C3%B6ckner-inauguralspeech-en.pdf
- The debate concerning the reform of electoral law in German politics, led by Julia Klöckner, focuses on policy-and-legislation that aim to strike a balance between maintaining the smaller parliament size and guaranteeing every direct mandate winner a seat in the Bundestag.
- The current discourse on policy-and-legislation within general-news centers on proposed reforms in the politics of Germany, particularly those focusing on refining the electoral law to ensure every constituency winner gets into the Bundestag, addressing the ongoing issue of some direct mandate winners not being seated.
