Polls suggest the center-right opposition Union bloc -- the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union -- are likely to win the most seats in the Bundestag but fall well short of a majority to govern alone. If this bears out, they would still need to form a coalition with at least one other party to govern.
The far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, is polling strongly. But the party has no realistic chance of joining a governing coalition because other parties say they won't work with it.