German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has cast his ballot in Germany’s early elections, urging citizens to exercise their democratic right and vote as the country braces for a shift to the right.

Steinmeier, who voted together with his wife Elke Büdenbender at a polling station in Berlin’s south-western Zehlendorf district, thanked election workers and called on Germans to cast their ballots.

“Use your right to vote, go and vote, have your say in the future of our country and vote knowing that your vote could be the deciding one,” he said at the Erich Kästner primary school on Sunday morning.

Steinmeier also thanked federal returning officer Ruth Brand who greeted him at the polling station, honouring the “huge effort” that had been required to put on the snap election after the centre-left coalition government collapsed in November.