Sarah Woerner, a 22-year-old elementary education student from Freiburg, belongs to the roughly 30 percent of the German electorate that is still undecided.

"I'm unhappy with the current government (of Social Democrats and Greens), and I am convinced that things have to change," she told United Press International, Wednesday. "But I'm just not sure that the Christian Democrats and (chancellor candidate) Angela Merkel are right for our country."

The student said she fears the CDU would cut back Germany's social welfare state in order to free more federal money. The SPD, however, would likely fail to create new jobs, she said. Woerner has even considered not to vote at all, because she deems herself "not informed enough" to make a thoughtful decision. "I don't want to be led by emotions and make the wrong choice," she said.

All parties in recent weeks have wooed the undecided. Many of the undecided voters might give their ballot to the party that performs strongest in the last polls before the elections. The "band-wagon-effect" could favor Angela Merkel's CDU.

Schroeder, however, banking on his image of a likeable statesman, is capable of reeling in the undecided votes: In 2002, he trailed opposition candidate Edmund Stoiber, but eventually won the vote by convincing many of the undecided voters in the eastern states with swift crisis management when a flood hit the region.

Schroeder, observers say, has already convinced many in the crucial group with his victorious performance in the TV debate with rival Merkel.

While it is hard to find a public space in the country that has not been plastered with campaign posters advertising the main parties, more and more young Germans are increasingly indifferent to politics. While more than 10 million Germans younger than 30 are eligible to vote, only 34 percent of youth between the ages 12 and 24 deem themselves "politically interested," according to the latest Shell Youth Study, which surveys young Germans since half a decade. In 1991, the result was 57 percent.

Political apathy often causes young Germans to stay away from the polls. The proportion of nonvoters in the last 14 years has more than doubled, to 21 percent, according to Deutsche Welle. That's roughly 13 million people.

Pol-di.net, a group focusing on politics and the media, launched a Web site for nonvoters called www.ich-gehe-nicht-hin.de ("I'm not going").

"We wanted to give nonvoters a voice, and to show that political dialogue in the Internet is in demand," Christoph Dowe, who organized the project, told Deutsche Welle.

On the site visitors can publish comments why they are not voting.

"Voting? Parties? Candidates?" one person wrote. "What do I care for politics I'm doing just fine."

Comments published on web sites like www.ich-gehe-nicht-hin.de reflect the growing disenchantment with politics in general.

"I'm not going to the polls because I would once again only have the choice between a rock and a hard place," another user wrote. "Ninety-eight percent of politicians are greedy for power and corrupt."

Voter turnout at German federal elections since 1971, where it stood at 91.1 percent, dropped to 79.1 percent in 2002, the last elections.

While some say the trend is an omen of the demise of German democracy, others point to numbers in Britain, Switzerland and the United States, where nonvoters double or even triple the German rate.

Observers blame the loss of power of traditional social institutions, such as labor unions, churches or parties, which in recent years all have lost members, for the lower voter turnout.

"People go to the polls when bonds to community institutions remain strong," Michael Eilfort, director of the Berlin-based economic policy think tank Stiftung Marktwirtschaft, told Deutsche Welle. "In a familial environment, in a church setting or in trade unions, where people are more likely to talk politics, they are also more likely to vote."

But there is the other side: "Wahl Gang 05," (www.wahlgang05.de) a project initiated by the political science department of Berlin's Free University, tries to motivate first-time and young voters to head to the polls. From their office building in trendy Berlin-Mitte, roughly 25 Free University students work full-time to promote the democratic process.

"First of all we want to take away the reservation of young people when it comes to politics," Charlotte Muellenbroich, the project's spokeswoman, told UPI. "We have initiated discussions and workshops at several Berlin schools, and we will continue to do that until the end of the week."

TV and radio spots, a street soccer tournament and information brochures and sessions were designed to inform and motivate young voters about the political process and the parties. Several German celebrities, including German pop rock band Silbermond, are supporting the project.

While its staff is ready to inform young people about the parties' programs, Wahl Gang 05 won't push them for one side or the other, Muellenbroich said.

"Those questions are posed to us," she said. "But we leave them unanswered. We can't and shouldn't help them with the final decision."

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