Merkel's party gets boost from election law vote

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives got a boost on Friday when the Bundestag lower house of parliament rejected proposed changes to Germany's election law just three months before a federal vote.

Political scientists say a quirk in the rules means Merkel's conservative bloc could win up to 24 extra seats in September's election, boosting the chances of a coalition with their desired partner, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).

Merkel's conservatives have ruled in a loveless coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) since 2005.

Opposition parties, who feel disadvantaged by the system brought a motion to change the law on Friday but it was overwhelmingly rejected.

Under the complex rules, each voter in Germany can cast two ballots -- one for a specific candidate in his or her constituency and the second for a particular party.

If a party wins more direct seats in a constituency than it would theoretically get according to the percentage of second votes, the Bundestag creates extra, or "overhang" seats.

The quirk has over the years benefited both Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) as well as the SPD in previous elections but tends to disadvantage smaller parties.

This year, the advantage for the conservatives could be unusually big because while the conservatives are more than 10 points ahead of their nearest rival, the SPD, in polls, they are still on only about 36 percent, historically a very low rating.

This means the difference between the number of directly-elected seats and the proportion of the vote is likely to be large, say pollsters.