The German election system gives voters two votes, one for the direct district candidate, the other one for the party. The Free Democrats (FDP), which have never had a chance of getting one of its district candidates elected, depend on swing votes from other parties, in order to boost its%age of second votes.
With the Christian Democrats of Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz having to fight for every vote of their own in this year’s Feb. 23 elections in order to reach the intended 30%, Merz has no freedom to allow second votes to be given to the Free Democrats, and he has repeatedly warned voters against voting for the FDP. That is the reason why all opinion polls see the Free Democrats at 4%, too low to be seated in the Parliament, which requires 5%.