BERLIN — Germans are casting their votes Sunday in a nationwide election that will shape the country’s next government, with polls indicating a likely shift in the political landscape.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0700GMT) across nearly 90,000 locations and will close at 6 p.m. (1700GMT).

More than 59 million German citizens are eligible to vote, including 2.3 million first-time voters.

The electorate skews older, with 42 percent of voters aged 60 and above, compared to just 13 percent under 30. Over seven million eligible voters have immigrant backgrounds.

While some Germans have already submitted their mail-in ballots, concerns have emerged as thousands of citizens living abroad have reported on social media that their postal voting documents did not arrive in time.

Conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) are widely expected to emerge as the strongest party, though they are unlikely to secure enough seats to govern alone.

The latest INSA polling data shows the CDU/CSU leading with 29.5 percent support, holding a commanding 14-point lead over Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s struggling Social Democratic Party (SPD).

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling at 21 percent, marking its strongest federal election performance yet and positioning itself as the second-largest political force in Germany.

A Thursday survey showed that nearly 27 percent of voters remained undecided, raising uncertainty about the final outcome.

Germany’s complex election system requires voters to elect a new parliament, which will then choose the next chancellor. If the winning party secures an outright majority or successfully forms a coalition, its candidate becomes chancellor.

The electoral process includes a mixed voting system, with voters casting one ballot for a candidate in their district and another for a political party, determining the overall composition of the 630-seat parliament.

Scholz’s three-party coalition government—comprising the SPD, Greens, and FDP—collapsed in November following disagreements over budget allocations, welfare programs, climate policies, and public debt.

Instead of continuing as a minority government, Scholz called for snap elections, arguing that Germany needs a strong and stable government to tackle its pressing challenges. — Agencies