The make-up of the next German government remains unclear as predictions for Sunday's parliamentary election show the two major contenders in a tie.
Exit polls and television projections indicate German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats and Christian Democrats led by conservative challenger Angela Merkel both will win about 220 seats, and about 35 percent of the vote.
Projections also show large gains in seats for the Left Party, which includes former East German Communists.
Both Mr. Schroeder and Ms. Merkel say they will now reach out to potential coalition parties and try to put together a stable government.
A number of ballots are still to be cast. Voting in one district was delayed until October because of the death of a candidate.
Some information for this story provided by AP and Reuters.
