The electoral system of Germany is a form of proportional representation, i.e. each voter has two votes: one for the election of deputies of the Bundestag to its geographical constituency and one for voting for party lists, so that voters could split their vote between the two parties. To vote and to stand for election to the bodies of state authority has the right to every citizen over 18 years.
One half of the deputies of the Bundestag is elected by a simple majority vote of the territorial constituencies, the other half is formed by political parties in accordance with the results of the elections on party lists land, so that the whole of the Bundestag reflects the balance of power between the parties at the national level, as measured by the outcome of voting on party lists. This mechanism ensures the Bundestag leaders of major political parties, parliamentary mandate, even if they defeat the territorial constituencies.
A political party can not be represented in parliament if it did not receive at least 5% of the votes throughout the country, or 3 seats in the districts. However, in elections in 1990 was an exception in order to give more chances to the less-organized parties in the eastern lands, and thus more opportunities to voters living there, since they represented only 20% of the total electorate united Germany. Financial support for political parties to provide the state, but doing so if the party in the voting lists collect no less than 0.5% of the vote.
