The electoral reform passed by the traffic light coalition outraged the Union from the outset.

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner is insisting on a renewed reform of the electoral law, which was only amended during the last legislative period. "I have asked the parliamentary groups to address this issue. The mandate is also included in the coalition agreement," the CDU politician told the German Press Agency in Berlin.

However, she doesn't want to put forward her own proposal. "I can repeat any proposal that has already been rejected. But that's not very creative. There are enough proposals on the table." Perhaps there will now be some new insights and a willingness to agree on a model that was previously rejected.

The traffic light coalition of the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP had reduced the size of the Bundestag from 735 to 630 seats by amending the Bundestag electoral law. This was achieved by eliminating overhang and compensatory mandates.

One consequence, however, was that after the early federal election in February, 23 constituency winners did not receive their direct mandates because their party lacked the necessary second vote coverage. Three constituencies in Baden-Württemberg and one in Hesse are not even represented by a single MP in the Bundestag.

"Who are you even going to convince to run in a constituency with so many candidates, which lowers the first-vote result for each individual?" Klöckner said. "Someone invests personal time, personal reputation, personal money, even wins, and then doesn't get into the Bundestag."

This devalues the first vote, criticized the President of the Bundestag. "Either we have to say we want a different electoral law, no more first and second votes. Or we have to restore the first vote's significance."

The fact that the Bundestag now has fewer members is good and right. "But the way the electoral law is now, we have a legitimacy problem with the population and a representation problem," said Klöckner, pointing to the 23 constituency winners who were not elected and the four vacant constituencies.

In her inaugural speech after her election at the end of March, the President of the Bundestag had already stated: "It must be possible to combine the goal of electoral reform – a significant reduction in the size of the Bundestag – with a comprehensible and fair electoral law."

At the same time, however, 47 percent of respondents in a YouGov survey commissioned by the German Press Agency (DPA) favored maintaining the current electoral law. Only 34 percent supported another reform. 18 percent had no opinion. Among those who voted for the CDU or CSU on February 23, 50 percent voted for maintaining the existing electoral law.

In their coalition agreement, the CDU/CSU and SPD agreed to change the electoral law again and to establish a commission to present proposals before the end of this year. The goal is to ensure that every constituency winner returns to the Bundestag. Furthermore, the parliament should "basically remain at its current size."

According to the coalition agreement, the new reform will also examine how equal representation of women in parliament can be ensured and whether the voting age for federal elections should also be lowered to 16. The CDU/CSU has so far rejected this proposal. It could accommodate the SPD in its search for a compromise.