A fantastic result for the CDU, but the SPD's second worst result of all time.
#CDU seen two seats short of parliamentary majority #BTW13
If a party fails to register 5%, are the seats apportioned to those parties that have over 5%? That is, if Merkel’s party has 42%, and 20% of the vote is divided among parties that fail to reach 5%, does that mean that Merkel’s party will control greater than 50% of the seats? (42% of 80%?)
Voters rewarded Merkel, often called the world's most powerful woman, with another four years at the helm for steering them unscathed through the eurozone debt turmoil that engulfed its southern flank.
But in one of the tightest races in German history, they punished her pro-business partner, the Free Democrats, kicking them out of parliament for the first time since 1949, according to the exit polls on public television.
The upstart anti-euro party AfD appeared to fall just short of the five-percent hurdle to representation amid anger over German contributions to bailout packages for stricken eurozone partners.
Under Germany's complex electoral maths, the result means the most likely scenario will be a left-right "grand coalition" between Merkel's Christian Democrats and their traditional opponents, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), which scored around 26 percent.
Merkel Close to Absolute Majority After German Election
Merkel on track to clear absolute majority in German elections
Merkel's conservatives on track for absolute majority - projection
People from Germany please weigh in...are these developments good for conservatives in Germany or not?
AFP’s Deborah Cole says it is likely to be early Monday before we know for sure whether Merkel has won an outright majority.
The German Chancellor is steering clear of referring to one at this stage but her tone was positive when she spoke at CDU headquarters earlier.
“The party leadership will discuss everything when we have a final result but we can already celebrate tonight,” she told delighted supporters.