2011 Bremen state election

The 2011 Bremen state election was held on 22 May 2011 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven.[1][2] The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens was re-elected with an increased majority. The Greens became the second largest party in a state legislature first time in western Germany.[3][4]

2011 Bremen state election
22 May 2011
All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen
42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,309,355 (55.5%)
Decrease 2.1%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jens Böhrnsen Karoline Linnert Rita Mohr-Lüllmann
Party SPD Greens CDU
Last election 32 seats, 36.7% 14 seats, 16.5% 23 seats, 25.6%
Seats won 36 21 20
Seat change Increase 4 Increase 7 Decrease 3
Popular vote 505,348 293,993 266,483
Percentage 38.6% 22.5% 20.4%
Swing Increase 1.9% Increase 6.0% Decrease 5.2%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Kristina Vogt Jan Timke Oliver Möllenstädt
Party Left Citizens in Rage FDP
Last election 7 seats, 8.4% 1 seat, 0.8% 5 seats, 6.0%
Seats won 5 1 0
Seat change Decrease 2 Steady 0 Decrease 5
Popular vote 73,769 48,530 31,176
Percentage 5.6% 3.7% 2.4%
Swing Decrease 2.8% Increase 2.9% Decrease 3.6%
Mayor before election

Jens Böhrnsen
SPD

 Elected Mayor

Jens Böhrnsen
SPD

Sixteen and seventeen year olds were able to vote for the first time in this election.[5] A reform to the electoral system came into effect in this election, based on an open list system, with each voter having five votes to distribute freely between parties and candidates.[5]

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Bürgerschaft of Bremen.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2007 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Jens Böhrnsen 36.7%
32 / 83
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Rita Mohr-Lüllmann 25.6%
23 / 83
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen		 Green politics Karoline Linnert 16.5%
14 / 83
Linke The Left
Die Linke		 Democratic socialism Kristina Vogt 8.4%
7 / 83
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei		 Classical liberalism Oliver Möllenstädt 6.0%
5 / 83
NPD National Democratic Party of Germany
Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Neo-Nazism 2.7%[lower-alpha 1]
1 / 83
BiW Citizens in Rage
Bürger in Wut		 Right-wing populism Jan Timke 0.8%
1 / 83

Opinion polling
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 SPD CDU Grüne Linke FDP BiW Others Lead
2011 state election 22 May 2011 – 38.6 20.4 22.5 5.6 2.4 3.7 6.9 16.1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 10–12 May 2011 1,037 37 19 24 6 4 – 7 13
Infratest dimap 10–12 May 2011 1,001 36 20 24 7 3 3 7 12
Emnid 20–28 Apr 2011 1,004 37 22 24 7 4 – 6 13
Forsa Jan–Feb 2011 1,308 38 23 22 7 4 – 6 15
Konkret Marktforschung 17–19 Dec 2010 500 33.4 22.8 19.4 8.5 3.3 5.5 7.1 10.6
Emnid 12–17 Feb 2010 1,000 35 25 17 11 5 – 7 10
2007 state election 13 May 2007 – 36.7 25.6 16.5 8.4 6.0 0.8 5.9 11.1

Election result
Summary of the 22 May 2011 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen
Party Votes  % +/- Seats Total
seats		 +/- Seats %
Bremen Bremerhaven
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 505,348 38.6 Increase1.9 30 6 36 Increase4 43.4
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 293,993 22.5 Increase6.0 17 4 21 Increase7 25.3
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 266,483 20.4 Decrease5.2 16 4 20 Decrease3 24.1
The Left (Linke) 73,769 5.6 Decrease2.8 5 0 5 Decrease2 6.0
Citizens in Rage (BiW) 48,530 3.7 Increase2.9 0 1 1 Steady0 1.2
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 31,176 2.4 Decrease3.6 0 0 0 Decrease5 0
Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) 24,935 1.9 Increase1.9 0 0 0 ±0 0
National Democratic Party (NPD) 20,470 1.6 Decrease1.1[lower-alpha 2] 0 0 0 Decrease1[lower-alpha 3] 0
Others 44,541 3.4 0 0 0 ±0 0
Total 1,309,355 100.0 68 15 83 ±0
Voter turnout 55.5 Decrease2.1
Popular Vote
SPD
 
 38.60%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 22.45%
CDU
 
 20.35%
DIE LINKE
 
 5.63%
BiW
 
 3.71%
FDP
 
 2.38%
Other
 
 6.88%
Bürgerschaft seats
SPD
 
 43.37%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 25.30%
CDU
 
 24.10%
DIE LINKE
 
 6.02%
BiW
 
 1.20%

Notes
  1. Results for the German People's Union, which merged with the NPD in January 2011.
  2. Compared to results for the German People's Union, which merged with the NPD in January 2011.
  3. Compared to results for the German People's Union, which merged with the NPD in January 2011.

References
  1. "SPD and Greens set for power in Hamburg". The Local. February 13, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  2. "Wahlen". Bremen. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  3. "Rot-Grün – das ist die neue große Koalition". Die Welt. May 22, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  4. "Ergebnisse der Bürgerschaftswahlen in Bremen".
  5. "Wahlen". Weser Kurier. February 4, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
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