The left loses votes but gains seats in Germany; Angela Merkel wins but doesn't get a majority. It's a good lesson in how electoral systems do funny things to the numbers.
Category: Germany
A German update
The German election is too close to call on the basis of exit polling alone, but it's clear that chancellor Angela Merkel has done very well.
On the spot in Germany
Election day in Germany provides an opportunity to survey some of the possibilities.
Mixed fortunes in Bavaria
Angela Merkel's forces score a morale-boosting win in the Bavarian state election, but it's not enough to dispel the underlying risk that the electoral system is posing for her next Sunday.
If you’re not sick of elections yet …
Germany votes in two weeks time on the fate of Angela Merkel's government. The result will depend in part on a quirk of the country's otherwise very democratic electoral system – a system which, incidentally, would have produced a rather different result last weekend in Australia.
Cliffhanger election boosts Germany’s liberals
Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats went down to defeat in a cliffhanger state election in Germany yesterday. But it's not all bad news for them, since a liberal revival is a good omen for their national prospects.
