The present amendment has eliminated the former exemption (the Grundmandatsklausel) as it was considered constitutionally problematic in a system based on coverage by main votes. The explanatory report provides that “the fact is that the primary purpose of the election in constituencies will be to enable parties to obtain the seats they merit on the basis of their performance in the second vote and not, as hitherto, to elect individuals. Making an exception for parties which obtain fewer than 5 % of the second votes cast but capture the largest number of first votes in three constituencies, with the result that the party in question enters Parliament on the strength of its second votes, is difficult to justify constitutionally in a system based on coverage by second votes.