Germany Bundestag Election: Results, Seat Distribution, and Coalition Options
Parties in Parliament
5
±0 compared to 1994
Voter Turnout
82.2 %
+3.2 percentage points compared to 1994
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Final Official Results of the Bundestag Election
The bars show each party's vote share, the chips the swing since the previous election. Bundestag Election Results on 27 September 1998
Government cannot remain in office
The incumbent governing parties achieved 43.0% of the seats.
The exit poll is based on surveys of voters immediately after they cast their ballot and is published the moment polling stations close. A projection extrapolates the votes already counted to the country as a whole and becomes more accurate as counting proceeds. The final official result is only confirmed once every vote has been counted and certified by the electoral authority.
Votes are converted into seats under the rules of the electoral system. Electoral thresholds leave small parties without a mandate, while constituencies, rounding methods or additional seats shift the distribution further. That is why a party with less than half of the votes can end up with more than half of the seats.
How the electoral system in Germany worksA government needs a majority of the seats in parliament behind it – either a single party or several together in a coalition. The election only distributes the seats; which alliance emerges from them is negotiated afterwards.
Run the numbers on possible coalitionsSeat Distribution After the Bundestag Election
Total seats
669
Majority
335
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Coalition Calculator: Paths to Majority in Germany's Bundestag
0
335
0
669
Majority
335
Parties
Select parties to test coalitions.
Scenarios: What if...?
Select all parties near the electoral threshold that should enter parliament. electoral threshold at 5%.
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Election Day
27/09/1998
Government formation
30 days
Schröder I
27/10/1998 – 22/10/2002
Every party in detail: votes, gains and losses
Behind each vote share we also show what percentage of all eligible voters backed a party – non-voters included.
| Orientation | Party | Votes | Electorate | Seats | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centre-Left | SPD | 40.9 % +4.5 | 33.6 % | 298 +46 | |
| Centre-Right | CDU/CSU | 35.1 % -6.4 | 28.9 % | 245 -49 | |
| Environment & Climate | Grüne | 6.7 % -0.6 | 5.5 % | 47 -2 | |
| Liberal | FDP | 6.2 % -0.7 | 5.1 % | 43 -4 | |
| Left | PDS | 5.1 % +0.7 | 4.2 % | 36 +6 | |
| Right | Republikaner | 1.8 % -0.1 | 1.5 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Far-Right | Deutsche Volksunion | 1.2 % +1.2 | 1.0 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Right | Initiative Pro D-Mark | 0.9 % +0.9 | 0.7 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Far-Right | Die Heimat | 0.3 % +0.3 | 0.2 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Animal Welfare | Tierschutzpartei | 0.3 % +0.1 | 0.2 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Center | Die Grauen – Graue Panther | 0.3 % -0.2 | 0.2 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Liberal | Bund freier Bürger | 0.2 % +0.2 | 0.2 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Environment & Climate | ÖDP | 0.2 % -0.2 | 0.2 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Anarchistische Pogo-Partei Deutschlands | 0.1 % +0.1 | 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Satire | Chance 2000 | 0.1 % +0.1 | 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Die Frauen | 0.1 % +0.1 | 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Centre-Right | FAMILIE | 0.1 % +0.1 | 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Right | Bayernpartei | 0.1 % ±0.0 | 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Right | Partei Bibeltreuer Christen | 0.1 % ±0.0 | 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Transversal | Naturgesetz Partei | 0.1 % -0.1 | 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Center | Alternativen Bürgerbewegung | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Center | Autofahrerpartei | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Transversal | Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Christliche Mitte | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Demokratie durch Volksabstimmung | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Center | Demokratische Partei Deutschlands | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Deutsche Kommunistische Partei | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Deutsche Soziale Union | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Centre-Right | Deutscher Mittelstand | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Freiheitliche Partei Deutschlands | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Liberal | Freisoziale Union | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Gleichheitspartei | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Left | Humanistische Partei | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Far-Left | MLPD | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Centre-Left | Neues Forum | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Left | Partei der Arbeitswilligen | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Transversal | Partei der Nichtwähler | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Centre-Right | Zentrum | < 0.1 % ±0.0 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 | |
| Unknown | Statt Partei | < 0.1 % -0.1 | < 0.1 % | 0 ±0 |
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