Half the seats in the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, go to the directly elected lawmakers, one for each of the 299 constituencies. The party vote is critical because it determines the percentage of seats each party wins in the lower house, which in turn elects the chancellor. That means the lower house could have considerably more than the minimum 598 lawmakers. That candidate needs a majority of all lawmakers in the lower house to take office. The lower house is elected for a four-year term.

Source: Washington Post September 22, 2017 07:52 UTC