BSW complaint: Karlsruhe to rule in 2026 – Merz coalition's majority at stake
In 2025, the BSW fell just 9,529 votes short of entering the Bundestag. The Constitutional Court plans to rule on a recount this year – with possible consequences for the Merz coalition.
Archive image · Photo: Sven Teschke / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court intends to rule on the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance's (BSW) electoral complaint before the end of the year. A court spokeswoman told Stern the decision should be issued "this year", Euronews reported on Wednesday. The court left open whether there will be an oral hearing, citing the confidentiality of its deliberations. In the federal election on 23 February 2025, the BSW won 4.981 percent of the party-list vote, missing the five-percent threshold by 9,529 votes.
The BSW argues that votes may have been lost in the count – for example through misallocation to other parties, overlooked valid votes or ballots wrongly declared invalid. Experts consider confusion with the small party Bündnis Deutschland possible. The Bundestag rejected a recount in December 2025 by 427 votes to 129, with one abstention. Wagenknecht said in August: "It is good that Karlsruhe will make a decision this year."
The case is politically explosive: if a recount gave the BSW seats, the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition would lose its 12-seat majority, according to Euronews. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) could also lose her post; around 30 other MPs owe their seats to the current distribution. In ARD's Deutschlandtrend poll in October, only 10 percent were satisfied with Chancellor Friedrich Merz's work.