Germany election: Merkel wins fourth term, exit polls say
(about 1 hour later)
Millions of Germans are casting their votes in the country's federal elections, with Chancellor Angela Merkel tipped to retain power.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term in federal elections, exit polls suggest.
She is seeking a fourth term in office and to keep her conservative CDU/CSU alliance's status as the largest presence in Germany's parliament.
Her conservative CDU/CSU alliance has won 32.5% of the vote, remaining the largest party in Germany's parliament, according to the ARD poll.
Its coalition partner, the social democratic SPD, is its main rival, while the right-wing AfD is likely to gain its first parliamentary seats.
Its coalition partner, the social democratic SPD, has gained 20%.
Voter turnout looks set to be moderate.
Meanwhile, the AfD, a right-wing nationalist, anti-Islam party, was on track to win 13.5%, emerging as Germany's third-strongest party.
Latest updates
Those numbers mean that the SPD, led by Martin Schulz, has fallen to a new post-World War Two low.
By 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT) 41.1% of registered voters had cast their ballot, compared to 41.4% by the same time in the federal elections four years ago, according to Germany's federal returning officer.
The party's deputy leader, Manuela Schwesig, said the result was a heavy defeat that meant the party would go into opposition, putting an end to the current coalition with Mrs Merkel.
Mrs Merkel cast her vote at a polling station in Berlin; the SPD's candidate for chancellor, Martin Schulz, voted earlier in the day in his home town Wuerselen in western Germany.
AfD's performance, better than what opinion polls had forecast, means that the right-wing party will have a seat at the Bundestag for the first time.
Polling stations opened at 08:00 and close at 18:00, with exit polls expected shortly after.
The party's leader, Frauke Petry, said on Twitter (in German) that Germany has experienced an incomparable "political earthquake".
The election is seen as important because it may result in six parties in the Bundestag - the German national parliament - for the first time since World War Two.
The exit poll put the Liberal FDP with 10.5%; the Greens with 9.5% and the Die Linke (The Left) with 9%.
Such a result could mean a change in the makeup of the current governing coalition.
Mrs Merkel will now have to search for new coalition partners - a process that could take months.
Uncertainty about what a new coalition government could look like was expected to draw high numbers of voters to the ballot boxes, with postal voting higher than usual.
Key contenders
Angela Merkel: Widely expected to retain her seat, Mrs Merkel is seen internationally as a source of stability - having led Germany since 2005. Her decision to open Germany to asylum seekers during the peak of Europe's migrant crisis cost her politically, but she appears to have recovered
Martin Schulz: The SPD leader was until recently speaker of the European Parliament. Mrs Merkel's main rival is also her coalition partner - which has proved troublesome during the campaign, as he sought to criticise her politics
Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland: The top candidates for the AfD. Achieving seats in the Bundestag - or potentially becoming the third-largest party, as some campaign polls suggested - would be a major victory
What are the coalition options?
The SPD's Mr Schulz has already appeared to reject the idea of another CDU-led grand coalition, so what are the realistic alternatives for Mrs Merkel?
Recent polls suggest the CDU/CSU has a double-digit lead over the SPD but there are millions of undecided voters - perhaps a third of the electorate.
With the SPD still around 14 points behind Mrs Merkel's party in the polls, Mr Schulz is unlikely to attract all of them.
"It was a tough decision," voter Mike Muellerin told Reuters news agency in the SPD leader's hometown. "One hopes he [Schulz] will win but in any case it will be a tight race."
In Berlin, retired nurse Eva Maria told AFP news agency: "I hope Angela Merkel gets to stay on. She has everything under control."
The AfD, a nationalist, anti-Islam party, has so far held seats only in regional government but has grown in popularity during a campaign focused on immigration issues.
Mainstream parties have already ruled out talking to the AfD, which has been polling at between 11% and 13% and could emerge as Germany's third-strongest party.
Another significant contender is Die Linke (the Left), the main opposition party to the outgoing coalition, but its radical views make it an unlikely partner in any coalition that results from this election.
Some 61.5 million people aged over 18 are eligible to vote in federal elections, which are held every four years.
There are two separate votes - one for a candidate in their constituency, and one for their preferred political party.
