Electoral Law Reform Meets Resistance – CSU and Merz Criticize, Constitutional Court Reviews

The electoral reform planned by the Federal Government is causing considerable displeasure for the opposition leader Friedrich Merz and the CSU. In their criticism, they emphasize that the new electoral law could have counterintuitive effects – particularly for the CSU, which risks being underrepresented in the Bundestag even if it wins all constituencies in Bavaria, should it fail to clear the five-percent threshold. This imbalance in the electoral law is met with widespread incomprehension, as it is seen to potentially endanger democratic fundamental principles. However, the local issue of electoral district boundaries in Swabia, as raised by Merz, seems to have limited validity as a point of criticism. A fact-check by the German Press Agency put his arguments into perspective. The results of the check suggest that the accusations do not address the core problem of the electoral law reform and thus could shake the position of Merz and the Union, which currently still stands quite well in the favor of voters. The finer details of the reform and the effects on the voting process as a whole are now to undergo a thorough examination by the Federal Constitutional Court. It remains to be seen what conclusions the highest German judges will draw from the legal analysis of the project and to what extent the efforts to reform electoral law are in line with constitutional standards.