We are prepared for a higher number of postal votes, Tobias Meyer, a member of the company’s board of directors, told the national press.

In this scenario, we will increase controls to ensure that there are no overloaded mailboxes and we will check that there is nothing left to collect, he stressed.

All Germans who are at least 18 years old will receive an election notice a few weeks before September 26, with the date of the elections, the times and the polling station responsible, Meyer added.

Within a month German voters will go to the polls to vote for the 709 deputies who will make up the Bundestag (Federal Parliament).

The new legislators will decide who will replace the current head of government, Angela Merkel, who for 16 years ran the country and is now pinning her hopes on Armin Laschet, current prime minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, to extend her legacy.

The candidate saw his initial lead in the polls reduced and today has a negative balance of 70 percent of popular rejection within the conservatives.

A poll released Tuesday by the Forsa polling institute showed the Social Democratic Party (SPD) leading in voting intentions ahead of the September elections with a slight advantage over the ruling coalition.

pgh/abo/mem/ehl