Two votes and coalition talks: How the German election works

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — German voters elect a new parliament on Sept. 26 in a vote that will determine who succeeds Chancellor Angela Merkel after her 16 years in power. It should be clear within hours of the polls closing how the parties fared. But it may take longer to find out who the next chancellor will be and what the political complexion of his or her government will be. Merkel’s outgoing coalition holds the record for the time taken to form a new government. About 60.4 million people in the nation of 83 million are eligible to vote, about 2.8 million of them for the first time.