1983 Hessian state election

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

The previous election, held on 26 September 1982, delivered an inconclusive result. Though the CDU and SPD remained first and second, respectively, with only slight losses, the FDP fell to 3% and lost their seats in the Landtag for the first time. At the same time, the new ecologist Green party entered with 8% and held the balance of power. The CDU offered to form a grand coalition, but Minister-President Börner refused and decided to continue his cabinet as a minority government, despite being the second largest party with no supporting partners. When the government's budget was defeated, Börner was forced to call early elections just a year after the last.

The table below lists parties represented in the 10th Landtag of Hesse.

• "Final Results for the Landtag election of 25 September 1983" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 29 September 1983. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
• "Elections to the Hessian Landtag, September 25, 1983". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2023.