Keep the label beside the figure
Infratest dimap explains that an election-day Prognose generally relies on exit polling, while a later Hochrechnung incorporates counted results from selected districts and projects a likely overall outcome. The label describes the evidence available at that stage. A familiar chart design does not make every number a completed official count.
When saving a graphic from a broadcast, retain its label, publisher and time as well as the percentages. An early estimate and a later projection can concern the same election while drawing on different information. Cropping away the label removes an important part of their meaning.
Read an update as a change of evidence
As more counted results arrive, a projection’s basis develops. A changed number during that process is not automatically a correction of a reporting mistake; it may be an updated estimate from additional results. Establish what stage each graphic represents before explaining the change.
For a viewing note, describe the sequence in words: an exit-poll-based estimate, a projection with partial counts, then the relevant official result. Avoid mixing one party’s value from an earlier graphic with another’s from a later graphic to create a table the broadcaster never presented.
Retain the distinction within official results
The Federal Returning Officer’s explanation for the 2025 Bundestag election distinguishes the provisional result after counting from the final result formally established later. It states that those can differ. That dated explanation supports the distinction; its election-specific timetable should not be copied as the schedule for every later regional election.
If you need a historical outcome, use the appropriate official result record rather than assuming the last number in a saved television clip became final. If your purpose is to study the broadcast itself, retain the contemporaneous estimate and describe it as such. Those are different research questions.
This article does not report a current winner, estimate support or advise anyone how to vote. It explains how to read a programme’s data stage. The practical result is a more accurate description of what the graphic knew then, how its information changed and which official record answers the final-result question.
Questions answered
Does a Hochrechnung mean that every vote has been counted?
No. The cited explanation describes projecting an overall result from available counted partial results.
Can the provisional and final official results differ?
Yes. The Federal Returning Officer’s 2025 explanation explicitly distinguishes them and notes that possibility.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.