Support for Merkel's conservatives and SPD tied, German poll shows

BERLIN (Reuters) - Support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc and their Social Democrat rivals is even at 32 percent, a survey by pollster Infratest dimap for broadcaster ARD showed, ahead of Germany's Sept. 24 federal election. However, the Deutschlandtrend poll showed 44 percent of German voters want the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to lead the next government, compared with 33 percent in favor of Merkel's conservatives taking the lead. At the moment, Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc leads a 'grand coalition' with the SPD as junior partner. The poll showed that in a theoretical direct vote for chancellor, SPD leader Martin Schulz would win 45 percent support and Merkel 36 percent. The pollsters surveyed 1,023 people from March 20-22. The poll has a margin of error of 1.4 percent to 3.1 percent. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Andrea Shalal)