German hackers have stepped in to close security holes affecting vote counting machines, just five days before the national elections.

A fortnight after disclosing problems affecting vote tallying machines to be used in the preliminary rounds of the elections, the same hackers have taken it upon themselves to issue a fix.

Germans are heading to the polls on Sunday, but the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has claimed that the manufacturer of the machines was unsuccessful in fixing them.

"We are now resigned to the fact that the manufacturer is not only lacking the will, but also the necessary time, to deal with this problem," said Linus Neumann, a CCC spokesman.

As a result, CCC - the largest association of hackers in Europe - says it is donating an open-source fix to the returning offices that will patch the flaws.


At the time of the initial disclosure, the head of Germany's federal returning office, Dieter Sarreither, said the integrity of election results was a matter "of the highest priority".

Mr Sarreither's returning office told the manufacturer, vote-iT, that it must take into account recommendations made by Germany's information security agency to fix the weaknesses.

Image: The likeliest candidates for the chancellery are Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz

Germany's critical election will see whether the nation elects a new chancellor alongside hundreds of MPs amidst a backdrop of political surprises around the world.

Angela Merkel is vying for a fourth term as leader of Europe's largest economy, pitching herself as the candidate of stability in the 24 September poll.

Martin Schulz, the leader of the Social Democratic Party and a former European Parliament president, is seen as the underdog in the race for Germany's top job.

At the initial time of the disclosure, the CCC said that even if an attempt to manipulate the result of the election was ultimately unsuccessful, it would undermine faith in the democratic process.

A representative from the German Federal Statistical Office has said that the security processes in place for vote counting made manipulation of the official result "impossible".

However, they did not comment on the reputational damage that would be caused by an attack.