German Elections 2025: Know all about Germany election as Germans vote in high-stakes poll today

A man makes soap bubbles in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, one day ahead of the German election. (AP)

Main Candidates for Chancellor

Friedrich Merz

Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate Friedrich Merz is leading the race to become the next chancellor of Germany. He has been the longtime frontrunner and comes from the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In a watershed moment for Germany to decide upon its next dispensation, Merz has promised a strong leadership in Europe but Berlin remains in pressure to increase budget spending for its military. Merz has been polling about 30% on a regular basis.

If elected, Merz will face a new US president who has criticized Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and fractured the united front of the West against Vladimir Putin led Russia. Germany is the second-biggest provider of military aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Alice Weidel

The anti-immigration crusader, AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel had a good run in the elections in 2024. The AfD became the largest party in Thuringia and came second in other regional polls. AfD is already popular in several eastern states, but is growing rapidly in the west as well.

One of the campaign videos of Weidel has over four million views, displaying her popularity among the electorate. Her message to the Germans had been clear to vote for a change in German politics, breaking the firewall and taboo.

Weidel’s party AfD plans to exit the European Union, cancel the climate change measures, build nuclear power plants and rebuild gas lines and relations with Russia. However, five fatal attacks in Germany have led the party to make migration and security as the center issue.

Olaf Scholz

The incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany is set to face a crushing defeat in the elections as the polls suggest that his party SPD would see a downward swing in votes by around 10 points, bringing them to third spot below the far-right AfD and fighting the spot with the Greens.

Election posters showing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and CDU top candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz in Frankfurt, Germany. (AP Photo)

Scholz came to power in the backdrop of Angela Merkel’s optimism but his coalition has since faced the brunt due to infighting.

One of the polls conducted in September 2024 ranked Scholz as the least popular German chancellor since reunification, CNN reported.

What have Opinion Polls Predicted

The polls have suggested that Christian Democratic Union would lead the election, followed by far-right AfD and Olaf Scholz’s SPD.

The Greens would come at fourth position and the Left party, which has seen some resurgence in recent days, would come fifth.

According to BBC, the fewer parties make it to the 630-seat Bundestag or German parliament, the easier it would be to form a coalition and the government.