(i.e. reached the electoral threshold). Since the 1987 German Bundestag elections, the distribution of seats was made according to the Hare-Niemeyer method. Due to a change in the law passed in January 2008, the distribution of seats is now made according to the Sainte-Laguë/Schepers method. The proportion of seats a party gets in the Bundestag approximately equates to the percentage of votes the party gets in the election. Discrepancies result from overhang and the electoral threshold. According to §6, para. 1, clause 2 of the Federal Election Law the electors' second votes are not accounted for if those electors give their first votes to a successful and autonomous direct candidate (a candidate who is not nominated by a party). This rule is designed to prevent a double influence on the composition of the Bundestag. A similar problem occurred at the federal election in 2002. The PDS got two direct mandates in Berlin, but with only 4.0% of second votes they failed to pass the electoral threshold. The second votes from the electors who voted for those direct candidates counted nevertheless, since in this case both candidates belonged to a party which had handed in a regional list in the respective Bundesland. In its decision of November 23, 1988 (Federal Constitutional Law 79, 161), the Federal Constitutional Court pointed out the relevant loophole in the Federal Election Law to the legislative body. Abolishing the system with first and second votes with the possibility of splitting votes – meaning the elector's option to vote for a direct candidate and for a party independently – would solve the problem automatically. Abstention and spoilt votes German parliamentary election law does not have explicit abstention; a ballot paper without markings on it is considered a spoilt vote (separated into first and second vote). Furthermore, votes are spoilt if the voter's intention cannot be recognised without doubt, if the ballot paper contains additions or conditions or if it is not an official document. Since the general elections in 2009, only the first vote is spoilt on ballot papers designed for a different constituency as long as they contain the correct regional list for the second vote. The law of the German federal election does not consider ballot papers which are marked in a way that endangers the confidentiality of the ballot (as, for example, votes marked with an upright cross) as spoilt. There are further reasons