Projected results from Germany's federal elections suggest the centre-left has edged ahead of the conservatives of Angela Merkel
The centre-left SPD candidate, Olaf Scholz, said the country had voted for change
It's the conservatives' worst-ever performance but leader Armin Laschet says it's all to play for
Laschet says he too could lead a governing coalition, though he acknowledges the results are disappointing
The parties in third and fourth place, the Greens and the liberal FDP, will be the kingmakers in coalition negotiations
Angela Merkel is standing down as chancellor after 16 years in power
But with the race this tight, we could be waiting weeks to find out who gets the top job
Laschet thanks Merkel for her 16 years as chancellor.
We knew it would be a tight race, he said.
The end result is not certain, but we cannot be happy with this result, he admits.
Image source, ReutersThe conservatives' candidate is addressing supporters now - Angela Merkel is with him. We'll bring you what he says.
Germany's 5% minimum for a party to enter parliament at all means that supporters and would-be representatives of the Left party (die Linke) are facing a nervous wait.
Both exit polls we've highlighted show the party on 5%.
The far-left party advocates democratic socialism and is opposed Germany's membership of Nato.
Die Linke is popular in eastern Germany, where it draws support from former communists and disaffected SDP voters.
If you've seen our colourful graphic showing all the different coalition alternatives including traffic lights, Kenya and Jamaica, the liberal, pro-business FDP shows up a lot as the yellow party. Their leader Christian Lindner is very popular with young voters even though he walked out of coalition talks four years ago.
Exit polls predict the party got 11-12% of the vote.
Image source, Getty ImagesChristian Lindner's party says it's ready to take party in coalition talks
One senior party member Walter Kubicki has just said "we want to take part in government and we're ready to talk".
It's worth pointing out that General Secretary Volker Wissing has also said it's "not the time to talk about coalitions" just yet.
The exit-poll result does represent an increase on the centre-left SPD party's share of the vote in 2017, 21%. That was its worst result since World War Two.
As we've reported, the SPD will seek to assert its right to lead the next coalition government - saying it has a clear "mandate to govern".
But who are the SPD, and what have they promised voters?
The Social Democrats say they want “a future worth living in” in their manifesto and to this end promise a “climate neutral” Germany by 2045. They want to raise the minimum wage to 12 euros from 9.5 euros.
They want to improve childcare and promise to provide a digital device for all school pupils.
They seek a stronger Europe, and, unlike their rivals further on the left, Die Linke, the SPD is committed to Nato.
The predictions of 25 or 26% for Chancellor Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU union would be - by far - the worst result at the federal level in the party's history.
And it could be argued it's a rejection by the voters of the CDU's leader Armin Laschet, who stood as the conservatives' candidate for chancellor.
The party's general secretary has described the initial results as "bitter".
Image source, EPAThere were glum faces at the CDU's HQ as the exit poll was published
The exit polls indicate as tight a result as you could imagine, although remember they don't include postal voting.
However, reaction has started to come in from the party headquarters. Social Democrat general secretary Lars Klingbeil says the result shows it's time for change.
"We have fought our way back as the SPD, the SPD is back, the SPD clearly has the mandate to govern," Klingbeil told national TV.
Damien McGuinness
BBC News, Berlin
The exit polls came out and the joy and jubilation here among Green MPs and Green members - it was really overwhelming.
People here are really happy because if the final results are anything like these exit polls this is really good news for the Greens.
The Greens can go either way, they can go with the SPD, they can go with the CDU.
They can go left they can go right, what they want to do is get into government and get some chunky ministries, certainly the foreign ministry, maybe even the finance ministry.
What this result means is that they have a realistic chance of doing that. The proportion of Green MPs in the parliament right now is 9%, This is a huge leap up - 15% would be a record result for the Greens in parliament.
The mood is very positive here. It's probably the only place, right now, where people are celebrating.
The second big exit poll in Germany, produced for public broadcaster ZDF, has given the Social Democrats of Olaf Scholz the lead.
The exit poll published by ARD has put the two main parties - the CDU/CSU alliance of outgoing Chancellor Merkel, and the SPD - neck and neck with 25% each.
If this proves to be accurate, each will almost certainly need not one but two other parties to form a coalition with a majority in parliament.
All the parties have said they won’t work with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), so what options does that leave? Here’s a quick look at the possible combinations:
Each combination is given a nickname to distinguish it from the others, based on the traditional colours of each party.
“Traffic light”: This would see the SPD partner with the Greens and the liberal FDP.
“Jamaica”: Named after the nation’s flag, this sees the conservative CDU/CSU team up with the liberals and the Greens.
“Red-red-green”: This combination would see the SPD working with their preferred partners, the Greens, but also the more left-wing Left party.
And lastly, there are two combinations which see the two main parties team up - again, as they are currently locked in coalition together - with either the Greens (for a “Kenya” combination) or the liberals (making the German flag in black, red and gold).
Today's result sees both traffic light and Jamaica as plausible coalitions, in terms of numbers of seats.
Now the exit poll has been released, the political parties and main candidates for the chancellorship are expected to give their reaction imminently.
The fact that the two main parties appear at this stage to have tied means we can expect both candidates to come out fighting and say why they should be the next chancellor
The first official results should be announced soon, with further updates expected throughout the evening and into Monday morning.
Once the official result becomes clear, political parties will enter into talks about forming the next coalition government and crucially, who replaces Angela Merkel as chancellor.
Olaf Scholz's centre-left has tied with the centre-right of Armin Laschet on 25% of the vote each according to an exit poll from German public broadcaster ARD. If confirmed by results, it would mean a dead heat for the Social Democrats with Chancellor Angela Merkel's party.
These are the figures just released from a survey of voters leaving 560 polling stations across Germany. There are 60,000 polling stations across Germany and around 40% of voters posted in their ballots.
Well, it won’t be feet up in retirement for the long-serving leader just yet.
She remains acting chancellor until a new one is elected by the new parliament - and if coalition discussions take weeks or even months, she has to continue in post. She is standing down as an MP, however.
As for what’s next, Merkel has kept her lips sealed. We do know what she won’t do, though. During a farewell tour of her constituency this week, she scotched rumours of a move to Hamburg, where she was born.
She said she would stay in her modest flat in Berlin and the Uckermark, a rural area north of the capital, where she and her husband Joachim Sauer have a dacha.
Image source, ReutersThere are just minutes to go until the polls close at 18:00 in Germany (16:00 GMT).
Soon after, we’ll have an exit poll that will give us an indication of the result. Expect the political parties to react quickly.
You can follow our special live TV coverage from the German elections by clicking on the link at the top of this page.
And follow our online coverage at the same time.
For his po-faced, unflashy demeanour, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz was once unflatteringly nicknamed "Scholzomat" (Scholzomaton).
But at the business end of the election campaign, Scholz’s machine-like image appears to have resonated with voters, giving him an edge over his rivals.
As candidate for the centre-left SPD, the 63-year-old is now seen as favourite to succeed Merkel as chancellor.
He hails from Osnabrück in north-western Germany and entered politics as a Socialist Youth leader, having studied labour law. After a successful stint as mayor of Hamburg (2011-2018), when he rebalanced the city's troubled finances, he returned to the Bundestag.
Image source, Getty ImagesOlaf Scholz has been mocked for appearing robotic, but his style has seemingly appealed to many voters
His detractors have rounded on his record as finance minister, accusing him of failures in several big financial scandals.
But his pragmatic handling of the Covid-19 crisis as Merkel's deputy won him much praise and high approval ratings. Above all, he is seen as a safe pair of hands, an experienced statesman whose projection of reliability has struck a chord with risk-averse Germans.
If he wins, he will become Germany's first SPD chancellor since Gerhard Schröder left office in 2005.
You can read more about Scholz here.
Image source, EPAFor the first time in 16 years, someone other than Angela Merkel will run Germany, Europe’s largest economy. Voters will choose a new chancellor, the most powerful political post in the country.
That’s a significant change with both domestic and global implications.
At stake in this election is the political direction Germany will chart as it embarks on a new era.
The challenges are monumental. At home, the new chancellor will have to steer Germany through the Covid-19 pandemic while reviving the economy. Outside Germany, they will need to address the country’s relationship with the EU and its stance towards authoritarian states, such as China.
Each chancellor candidate has a different vision.
A government led by Armin Laschet of the centre-right CDU, for example, would probably represent continuity with Merkel’s conservative policies. But a government with Olaf Scholz of the SPD at the helm would shift Germany to the left on most issues, from climate change to social inequality.
Today, the world is watching as Germans cast their votes in one of the most open and unpredictable elections in a generation.
Paul Kirby
BBC News, Berlin
Image source, EPAAngela Merkel has stepped in to back her favoured successor, Armin Laschet, towards to tail end of the campaign
This has been the most unpredictable campaign.
All three main candidates for chancellor have been favourites at one point and the final pre-election poll showed the top two with a hair’s breadth between them.
In an election dominated by what to do about climate change, even the Greens were briefly in front in the polls.
So why the big swings?
For one thing it’s the first election for 16 years without Angela Merkel. Her conservative successor, Armin Laschet, failed to impress the voters and has relied on her to shore up the party vote. Frankly all three main candidates have been unable to capture that enduring Merkel appeal.
That all explains why the race has been so tight and coalition talks could be as unpredictable as the weeks before the vote.
Image source, ReutersBerlin's local election chief says that turnout is very high in the German capital, where voters are also taking part in state and local elections and a referendum on a measure targeting larger landlords.
The number of voters - and the number of ballot papers they each need - is meaning that people have had to wait for an hour and a half to cast their votes in places, n-tv reports.
Some polling stations ran out of ballot papers while others had to close temporarily as the wrong ones had been delivered. In one city centre location the team of election officials had to call the fire brigade in order to get into the building.
Image source, ReutersThe campaign of Angela Merkel's favoured successor, Armin Laschet, has been strewn with gaffes
Three parties have candidates for chancellor, and they’ve all been the focus of intense public interest.
1) Conservatives - Armin Laschet
Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has dominated German politics for decades along with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).
CDU leader Armin Laschet would be Merkel's natural successor, but he has struggled to win over voters, particularly after he was pictured laughing during a visit to a flood-hit town in western Germany in July.
Image source, EPAOlaf Scholz has been polling above his conservative rival, Laschet, in recent weeks
2) Social Democrats
The centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been in coalition with the conservatives and was the front-runner until the CDU/CSU alliance narrowed the lead.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is also Merkel’s vice-chancellor and is still favourite to win.
Image source, EPAGreens leader Annalena Baerbock has positioned herself as the candidate of change
3) The Greens
Focusing on climate change and social justice, they briefly led the polls in the spring.
Leader Annalena Baerbock, 40, has not yet had a role in government but her party is likely to be part of the next one.