The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is campaigning for the complete abolishment of the five-percent electoral threshold used in both federal and state elections.
AfD party and parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel told the “Tagesspiegel” that it is a serious shortcoming and a distortion of democratic competition when large proportions of votes are effectively invalidated by the electoral barrier, thereby undermining the principle of equality in voting rights. She agreed with Hans-Jürgen Papier, former President of the Federal Constitutional Court, who described the five-percent threshold as obsolete and inappropriate.
Papier had previously commented that the five-percent barrier for Bundestag elections was “no longer timely” and advocated for lowering it from five percent to three percent.
However, Weidel rejected this suggestion, arguing that the threshold should be abolished entirely. She countered the argument that the barrier is necessary to prevent parliamentary fragmentation, calling it clearly unsubstantiated and fabricated. Furthermore, Weidel accused the SPD of a sudden enthusiasm for Papier’s proposal, suggesting that this interest was driven less by genuine concern for democratic fairness and more by “desperate fears of decline and survival.”
Weidel’s remarks about the SPD referred to statements made by SPD top candidate for the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, Deputy Minister-President Armin Willingmann. Willingmann had previously raised doubts about the five-percent threshold in the long term. He informed the “Tagesspiegel” that if substantial vote shares regularly fall just below the threshold, it is legitimate to debate the issue and question the five-percent rule. He added that a three-percent threshold would still provide adequate protection against fragmentation and that this is already standard practice in other European countries.
Willingmann maintained that such a proposal was not far-fetched and should be carefully discussed from a constitutional and political perspective. He stressed, however, that immediate reduction was not urgent.
Adding to the irony, Weidel pointed out that the SPD in Saxony-Anhalt only seems to be questioning the five-percent rule precisely when it threatens their own electoral success. She concluded that while the barrier previously served to disadvantage unpopular competitors to established parties, there has been no public concern about such issues before.
