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From ft.com

Exit polls say German election too close to call

By Bettina Wassener in Berlin and Uta Harnischfeger in Frankfurt and FT.com staff

Published: September 22 2002 14:44 | Last Updated: September 22 2002 16:56

As voting ended in Germany's cliffhanger general election on Sunday, exit polls said the result was still too close to call with the two main parties running neck and neck in the country's most closely contested election for decades.

Voter turnout in the first six hours of polling was estimated at 43 per cent, less than the 47 per cent at the same time in the last election in 1998.

The mood throughout the day was one of quiet acceptance that, whatever government emerges from Sunday's vote, radical policy changes or economic improvements were not to be expected.

"Let's be realistic: you can't really expect any great changes to come about given the limits of the resources that are available," said one middle-aged woman as she emerged from a polling station in a school in east Berlin.

"But I'm hoping my vote will at least help influence how those limited resources are prioritised. My key issue is spending on education. I mean, look at this school, it's completely run-down, I want to see a government that aims to provide certain minimum standards across the board in education, not one that focuses on narrow elites."

An entrepreneur, with 30 staff on his payroll, from old Bad Homburg, a dormitory town in the rolling hills outside Frankfurt, admitted that the differences between the CDU/CSU and the governing Social Democrats were not that large.

“The views of Schroder and Stoiber [on economic and business issues] aren't really detrimentally opposed,” he said.

Both mainstream parties generally agree that the German labour market must be deregulated and personal income tax rates must be lowered.

Change "Lower Turnout than 98" to "Too Close To Call"


 SPD   CDU   GRN  FDP  PDS Other
37,0% 39,0% 9,5% 7,0% 4,3% 3,2% Infratest   
 
38,0% 38,0% 9,0% 7,5% 4,0% 3,5% Forschungsgruppe  
  
38,5% 38,0% 9,0% 7,5% 4,0% 3,0% Forsa

From http://www.diewelt.de

Schroder is asking for a recount of the Florida votes.