BERLIN - Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democratic Union's candidate for German chancellor, failed to secure the required majority in Tuesday's Bundestag vote, falling six votes short of the 316 needed to be elected chancellor.
Merz received 310 votes in the secret ballot. A total of 621 out of 630 members of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, cast their votes, one of which was invalid.
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Bundestag President Julia Kloeckner interrupted the plenary session after the voting results were announced.
The discussions of parliamentary groups are still ongoing. However, multiple German media suggested that there won't be another round of voting Tuesday.