Germans are heading to the polls on Sunday September 24 for a federal election which will ultimately decide whether the incumbent chancellor, Angela Merkel, has another four years in power, CNBC reported.

Polling stations open on Sunday morning and close at 6:00 p.m. local time and soon after, public broadcasters Das Erste and ZDF will present their exit polls.

Voter opinion polls have consistently pointed to Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister-party the Christian Social Union (CSU) gaining around 36 percent of the vote, hence making it very likely that Merkel will return to power.

Polls have shown that the parties' closest rival, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), has failed to gain momentum and it is currently in second place with around 22 percent of the vote.

The anti-immigration, anti-euro Alternative for Germany (AfD) party could come in third place with around 11 percent of the vote — gaining more than the 5 percent threshold of votes needed to enter parliament for the first time — as could the pro-business Free Democrats party (FDP), seen gaining around 10 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, The Left (Die Linke) party is also seen gaining around 10 percent of the vote while the Greens are seen with 8 percent of the vote.

Germany's electoral system is notoriously idiosyncratic but, put simply, voters are asked to cast two votes – one for a candidate in their regional constituency and one for a political party – that will fill the Bundestag's 598 seats.