Lower Saxony state election, 2013

Lower Saxony state election, 2013
Lower Saxony
20 January 2013[1]

All 137 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony
69 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader David McAllister Stephan Weil Anja Piel and Stefan Wenzel
Party CDU SPD Green
Last election 68 seats, 42.5% 48 seats, 30.3% 12 seats, 8.0%
Seats before 68 48 12
Seats won 54 49 20
Seat change Decrease14 Increase1 Increase8
Popular vote 1,287,730 1,165,538 489,572
Percentage 36.0% 32.6% 13.7%
Swing Decrease6.5% Increase2.3% Increase5.7%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Stefan Birkner Manfred Sohn
Party FDP Left
Last election 13 seats, 8.2% 11 seats, 7.1%
Seats before 13 11
Seats won 14 0
Seat change Increase1 Decrease11
Popular vote 354,971 112,215
Percentage 9.9% 3.1%
Swing Increase1.7% Decrease4.0%

First votes winners in the electoral districts
  CDU
  SPD

Ministerpräsident before election

David McAllister
CDU

Ministepräsident-designate

Stephan Weil
SPD

A state election was held in Lower Saxony on 20 January 2013 to elect the 137 members of the Landtag.

The CDU-led government of Minister-President David McAllister sought to retain power in the assembly, but fell one seat short of a majority. They were replaced by an SPD-Green coalition, which has a one-seat majority.[2]

Background

In the regional elections on 27 January 2008, the CDU-FDP coalition was reelected under Prime Minister Christian Wulff. The SPD under Wolfgang Jüttner lost more than three percentage points to make it the SPD's worst ever result in Lower Saxony. The FDP retained their status as the third strongest party over the Greens although only by 0.2% of the vote. The Left achieved 7.1 percent of the vote, crossing the minimum electoral threshold and earning representation for the first time in the state legislature. Before the election the SPD & Greens announced their plan to govern together and campaign together. The CDU acted independently of the FDP during the campaign but sought to continue the CDU-FDP coalition after the election. If a CDU-FDP coalition was unable to be formed, the CDU said the SPD would be their second choice; however the SPD itself rejected the idea of a grand coalition with the CDU. The Left and The Pirates remained outside of possible coalition talks and failed to win seats in the election.[2]

Polls

Pollster Date CDU SPD FDP Greens The Left Pirates Others
Exit Poll 20.01.2013 36.8% 32.9% 9.6% 13.5% <5 % <5 % <5 %
GMS 17.01.2013 41% 33% 5% 13% 3% 3% 2%
INFO GmbH 12.01.2013 38% 31.5% 4.5% 14.5% 6% 3% 2.5%
Infratest dimap 10.01.2013 40% 33% 5% 13% 3% 3% 3%
GMS 10.01.2013 41% 33% 5% 13% 3% 3% 2%
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 10.01.2013 39% 33% 5% 13% 3% 3% 4%
Infratest dimap 03.01.2013 40% 34% 4% 13% 3% 3% 3%
INFO GmbH 22.12.2012 38.5% 33% 3.5% 12.5% 4% 4.5%
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 06.12.2012 39% 32% 4% 13% 4% 4% 4%
Infratest dimap 06.12.2012 40% 33% 3% 15% 3% 3% 3%
GMS 04.12.2012 41% 32% 4% 13% 3% 4% 3%
Infratest dimap 08.11.2012 41% 34% 3% 13% 3% 3% 3%
Infratest dimap 20.09.2012 37% 33% 3% 15% 4% 4% 4%
GMS 20.09.2012 38% 33% 5% 13% 5% 3% 3%
Forsa[3] 24.07.2012 38% 33% 4% 11% 4% 7% 3%
YouGov 19.07.2012 31% 35% 4% 14% 5% 7% 4%
Infratest dimap[4] 16.05.2012 32% 36% 4% 13% 3% 8% 4%
GMS[5] 16.05.2012 37% 33% 3% 13% 3% 9% 2%
Infratest dimap[6] 25.01.2012 36% 32% 3% 17% 5% 4% 3%
GMS[7] 20.01.2012 37% 33% 3% 18% 3% 3% 3%

Results

Leaders of the elected parties during election night (l to r): Stefan Birkner, David McAllister, Stephan Weil and Stefan Wenzel


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 Summary of the 20 January 2013 Landtag of Lower Saxony elections results
Party Popular vote Seats
Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Christian Democratic Union
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands - CDU
1,287,730 36.0% -6.5% 54 -14
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands - SPD
1,165,538 32.6% +2.3% 49 +1
Alliance '90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
489,572 13.7% +5.7 % 20 +8
Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei – FDP
354,971 9.9% +1.7% 14 +1
Left
Die Linke
112,215 3.1% -4.0% 0 -11
Other parties 165,235 4.7% +0.8% Steady Steady
Valid votes 3,575,261 98.7% Increase0.2%
Invalid votes 45,733 1.3% Decrease0.2%
Totals and voter turnout 3,620,994 59.4% Increase2.3% 137 Decrease15
Electorate 6,100,218 100.00
Source: Landeswahlleiterin Niedersachsen

Most polls taken in early 2012 showed a SPD-Green majority. However, in the run up to the election, polls tightened with the CDU-FDP coalition virtually neck and neck with the SPD-Green coalition. Polling suggested that the FDP's vote could be very close to 5%, which led to some officials in the CDU to suggest tactically voting FDP to ensure it met the minimum threshold, thus ensuring the continuation of the CDU-FDP.[2]

Sources

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