The German Federal Constitutional Court ruled against overhang mandates not being compensated, arguing that “the principles of equal elections and of equal opportunities of the parties are violated because additional mandates are allocated pursuant to [provisions which] permit overhang mandates with no compensation to a degree which eliminates the fundamental nature of Bundestag elections as proportional representation elections.”1 On the basis of this judgment, the increase of overhang mandates had to be compensated by adding extra seats to the other parties in order to give a true reflection of the distribution of second votes. The overhang mandates and a mandatory allocation of extra seats are thus the decisive factors responsible for an increase of the size of the Bundestag.