Armin Laschet is running for the ruling party to replace outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, after holding this position for 16 years.
On Sunday morning, German voters headed to the polls to elect their representatives in the 20th Federal Parliament (Bundestag).
The polling process began at eight in the morning local time, and the polls will close at six in the evening on Sunday.
In this session, 6,211 candidates and 47 parties are competing for 709 seats in the Federal Parliament, by obtaining the majority of the votes of the approximately 60.4 million voters.
100 German candidates of Turkish origin are competing in these elections for a place in parliament, as 20 of them are expected to win.
Armen Laschet, the candidate of the Christian Democratic Union / Christian Social Union (CDU / CSU) coalition, is competing for the position of chancellor, to replace outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel after holding this position for 16 years.
For the Social Democratic Party, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, and for the Green Party candidate Annalena Baerbock.
According to opinion polls, the election race is expected to be between the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) coalition and the Social Democratic Party.
In the 2017 elections, the CDU/CSU coalition received 32.9 percent, the SPD 20.5, the Alternative for Germany 12.6, the Free Democratic Party 10.7, the Left Party 9.2 and the Green Party 8.9 percent of the vote.
