section_path: Background/Electoral system/Second vote
section_name: Second vote
paragraph_text: Second vote
  
  The second vote is the more significant one as voting for a party, more precisely the state-wide electoral list of that party, contributes to its national popularity share and is decisive for determining the partisan composition of the Bundestag. The number of second votes also determines the share of seats assigned to a state, as seats won by a party are proportionally distributed to each of its state lists.
  
  To participate in the proportional allocation of seats, a party must either get five percent of the nationwide second vote or win three constituencies via first votes to pass the electoral threshold. Parties representing recognized minorities that contest federal elections, currently only the SSW, are exempt from the 5% threshold, but must still be proportionally entitled to a seat, in order to win representation.
  
  Initially, in an overall distribution, all 630 seats (except those won by independent candidates) are allocated proportionally at the federal level to parties clearing the threshold, then subsequently to states, and within each party to its candidates in each state. Both calculations are done using the Webster/Sainte-Laguë method. The number of constituencies each party wins in each state is subtracted from its allocation to arrive at the final number of list seats. The list seats won by each party are allocated using state-wide electoral list closed lists drawn up by each party within each state.
  
  Independent candidates are elected if they receive a plurality of the vote in their constituency. The second votes of ballots on which a winning independent candidate is the first vote are not considered in the proportional distribution of seats to preserve voter equality. However, these votes are considered when determining whether a party has exceeded the 5% threshold.