Germany’s Election Review Committee has rejected the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht’s (BSW) bid for a nationwide recount of February’s federal election, prompting the party to take its case to the Federal Constitutional Court.
BSW missed the 5% threshold by just 9,529 votes, finishing on 4.981% and therefore receiving no seats in the Bundestag. The party maintains that counting errors occurred and that a full review could reveal enough votes to push it over the line.
Committee chairman Macit Karaahmetoğlu (SPD) said BSW’s objection had been “very carefully examined” but proved “incorrect in all parts.” A 46-page recommendation released days earlier reached the same conclusion, stating that no “mandate-relevant” violation of election law could be identified.
BSW, however, argues the rejection was entirely predictable. In a public statement, the party said “power-political reasons” clearly influenced the outcome, claiming that the governing CDU/CSU–SPD coalition has every incentive to avoid a recount that could cost it its parliamentary majority. If BSW were found to have cleared the threshold, seats in the Bundestag would be reallocated—and Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government would lose its majority.
Sahra Wagenknecht echoed this view in a post on X. She wrote that a recount would “most likely” bring BSW into parliament and deny Merz his majority, which made the committee’s decision “no surprise.” She sharply criticised the nine-month delay before the ruling, calling it “an outrage” that blocked earlier access to judicial review. “We will now go to the Federal Constitutional Court,” she said, adding that if the court follows its own past rulings, it “must overturn the decision and order a new count.”
Although the Bundestag plenary must still vote on the committee’s recommendation, BSW expects the majority to support it. Only after that formal step can the party file its complaint with the Constitutional Court, which has the power to overturn the parliamentary decision and mandate a recount.
For BSW, the issue is simple: the official result is so narrow that only a full recount can demonstrate whether the vote was counted accurately. The party insists that it should already be represented in the Bundestag—and that the existing process, dominated by the governing parties, has failed to provide the necessary clarity.
Should the Constitutional Court intervene, Germany would face an unprecedented situation: a sitting government could lose its majority months after taking office. BSW argues that the integrity of the election demands nothing less than a definitive, nationwide recount.
