DRESDEN: Angela Merkel's conservatives extended their lead over Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats after final voting in Germany's election, strengthening their hand in power-sharing talks. The conservatives won an extra parliamentary seat to push their total to 226, while Chancellor Schroeder's SPD stayed at 222, the chief election official said after counting ended in central Dresden, the last area to cast ballots in Germany. Voters in the district brought the federal election to an end two weeks after the rest of the country went to the polls. The Dresden vote had been delayed due to the death of a local candidate. After voting in Germany's 298 other districts on Sept. 18, the conservatives held a provisional three-seat advantage. Dresden's Christian Democrat candidate will join Merkel's conservatives when the Bundestag lower house meets on or before October 18, although they are unlikely to have forged a government by then.