Try it for yourself
117Electoral threshold

The normal threshold is five percent of second votes.

The exam answer is 5%. It is a simplified general rule with important exceptions, not an absolute statement about every party.

About 4 min readReviewed: 20 October 2026
Exactly five AI-generated gold-coloured wooden counters lie in a row on navy cloth.
Federal Elections ActSection 4(2)
The five counters are a memory aid for the number, not an election result or percentage chart.
The short answer

At least five percent of valid second votes across the electoral area.

The five-percent threshold concerns parties’ inclusion in seat allocation. Current law includes an exception for national-minority parties and a court-ordered transitional rule involving at least three constituency pluralities.

Try it for yourselfExam question · No. 117
What minimum percentage of second votes must parties receive to be elected to the German Bundestag?

Choose one answer. Your result stays on this page only.

Five percent means five out of a hundred.

The question expressly names second votes. In Bundestag elections, these determine seat allocation among parties. The threshold refers to valid second votes cast across the whole electoral area, not just one polling station.

“At least” includes the boundary itself. Exactly five percent meets the normal threshold; a smaller share does not. The complete legal outcome also requires checking whether a statutory or court-ordered exception applies.

Three fictional adults with a bald head, long braids and short straight silver hair discuss a numerical rule.
AI-generated learning situation with no invented official calculation.

The other three answers

The other numbers are not the normal percentage threshold.

3%

Three percent is not the five-percent threshold. Do not confuse it with the transitional rule involving at least three constituency pluralities: that counts constituencies, not percentages.

4%

Four percent is below the normal threshold. Whether a party is nevertheless included in seat allocation depends on separate exceptions.

6%

Six percent is above the threshold but is not the minimum asked for. The normal boundary is reached at five percent.

The catalogue answer is shorter than current electoral law.

The threshold does not apply to national-minority parties under section 4(2). In addition, under the decision of 30 July 2024 recorded in the legal portal, pending new legislation a party below five percent remains included if its candidates have the most first votes in at least three constituencies.

This exception for including a party is distinct from second-vote coverage of individual constituency seats. The question tests only the familiar percentage. Turning it into “no one below five percent can ever receive a seat” goes beyond the test answer and misstates the law.

Section 4(2) · Federal Elections Act ↗
Your memory cue

Five percent as the rule; remember the exceptions.

Remember the number 5 without confusing it with the number of constituencies in an exception.

Three words for this question

die Sperrklauselelectoral threshold
A rule limiting inclusion in seat allocation.
die Zweitstimmesecond vote
The vote for a party’s state list in a federal election.
mindestensat least
The stated boundary is included.
Bundeswahlgesetz · § 4 ↗

Check the threshold’s name and the role of second votes.

121A party wants to enter the German Bundestag. But it must have a minimum share of voter votes. This is called …
Catalogue answer

5% threshold.

That question identifies the threshold by its familiar name.

93The more 'second votes' a party gets in a federal election, the …
Catalogue answer

more seats the party receives in parliament.

This question connects second votes with seat allocation.

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Sources & context

An independently written study guide, not an official BAMF publication or advice for an individual case. The sources below were reviewed on 20 October 2026 for the claims explained here; the test question comes from the existing question bank.

  • Bundeswahlgesetz · § 4 ↗Contains the five-percent rule, the national-minority party exception and the footnote on the court’s transitional three-constituency rule.
  • Die Bundeswahlleiterin · Das Wahlsystem ↗Explains second votes, seat allocation and the effect of the Constitutional Court’s decision of 30 July 2024.
  • BAMF · Gesamtfragenkatalog ↗Question 117 from the existing question bank, stated catalogue date 7 May 2025. The PDF could not be retrieved during this review; the existing questions and translations were not replaced.

The two editorial pictures are AI-generated illustrations. They do not document real events or official proceedings.