German lawmakers approve plan to shrink bloated parliament

Other proposals to reform the system have failed in recent years because of the difficulty of reconciling parties’ interests.

Lawmakers in Germany approved electoral reforms Friday that would educe the size of the country's increasingly bloated parliament, but two opposition parties were vehemently critical and the plan is expected to face a court challenge.

Parliament's lower house, or Bundestag, currently has a record 736 members. The changes approved on a 400-261 vote with 23 abstentions would reduce that number to 630.

Other proposals to reform the system have failed in recent years because of the difficulty of reconciling parties’ interests. Germany’s next national election is expected in the fall of 2025.

In German elections, every voter gets two votes: one for a directly elected candidate, the other for a party list.

Each of the country’s 299 constituencies elects its legislative representative directly by a simple majority vote. At least 299 further seats go to candidates elected on party lists. The list votes are critical because they determines the percentage of seats each party wins.

At present, if a party wins more seats via the direct vote than it would get under the party vote, it keeps the extra seats — but more seats are added for other parties to ensure the proportional vote is reflected accurately.

Because Germany’s traditional big parties have continued to dominate the direct vote even as their overall support has declined, that can result in the Bundestag having many more lawmakers than the minimum 598.