2002 German federal election

Several issues dominated the campaign, with the opposition CDU/CSU attacking the government's performance on the economy which fell back into recession due to the Telecoms crash and the introduction of the euro, as well as campaigning on family values and against taxes (particularly on fuel). The SPD and Greens, on the other hand, were helped by broad support for its opposition to an invasion of Iraq, continued media attention on the CDU funding scandal and by Gerhard Schröder's personal popularity relative to the opposition's candidate for Chancellor, CSU leader Edmund Stoiber.

Early in the campaign, Guido Westerwelle, leader of the Free Democrats, declared himself a "Chancellor Candidate," usually a title reserved for the main election leaders of the SPD and CDU/CSU. This was met with general derision.

Although most opposition parties gained seats, and the result was in doubt for most of the election night, the governing coalition retained a narrow majority. In particular, the SPD was able to partially offset declines in their vote share in the West with an increase in the East, with the PDS falling below both the 5% threshold and the 3-seat threshold, either of which is required to qualify a party for top-up seats. Consequently, the PDS held only two directly-elected seats.

 Summary of the 22 September 2002 German Bundestag election results

Parties		Constituency					Party list					Total seats
		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Seats	+/−	%
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	20,059,967	41.9	−1.9	171	−41	18,488,668	38.5	−2.4	80	−6	251	−47	41.6
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	15,336,512	32.1	−0.1	82	+8	14,167,561	29.5	+1.1	108	−16	190	−8	31.5
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	4,311,178	9.0	+1.7	43	+5	4,315,080	9.0	+2.2	15	+6	58	+11	9.6
	Alliance '90/The Greens	2,693,794	5.6	+0.6	1	+1	4,110,355	8.6	+1.9	54	+7	55	+8	9.1
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	2,752,796	5.8	+2.8	0	±0	3,538,815	7.4	+1.1	47	+4	47	+4	7.8
	Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	2,079,203	4.3	−0.6	2	−2	1,916,702	4.0	−1.1	0	−32	2	−34	0.3
	Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Schill party)	120,330	0.3	+0.3	0	±0	400,476	0.8	+0.8	0	±0	0	±0	0
	The Republicans (REP)	55,947	0.1	−0.5	0	±0	280,671	0.6	−1.2	0	±0	0	±0	0
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	103,209	0.2	+0.1	0	±0	215,232	0.4	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Animal Protection Party	8,858	0.0	±0	0	±0	159,655	0.3	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	The Grays – Gray Panthers (GRAUE)	75,490	0.2	−0.1	0	±0	114,224	0.2	−0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Party of Bible-abiding Christians (PBC)	71,106	0.1	±0	0	±0	101,645	0.2	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ödp)	56,593	0.1	−0.2	0	±0	56,898	0.1	−0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Feminist Party (DIE FRAUEN)	2,264	0.0	±0	0	±0	36,832	0.1	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Family Party (FAMILIE)	15,138	0.0	±0	0	±0	30,045	0.1	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Solidarity (BüSo)	22,531	0.0	±0	0	±0	16,958	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Christian Centre (CM)	2,413	0.0	±0	0	±0	15,440	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Bavaria Party (BP)	6,757	0.0	±0	0	±0	9,379	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Party for Pension Justice and Family (PRG)	4,363	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	7,499	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Departure for Civil Rights, Freedom and Health (AUFBRUCH)	2,895	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	4,697	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Centre Party (Zentrum)	1,823	0.0	±0	0	±0	3,127	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Humanist Party (HP)	1,385	0.0	±0	0	±0	2,485	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	The Violets (Violetten)	840	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	2,412	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Communist Party (KPD)	686	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	1,624	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	German Social Union (DSU)	6,003	0.0	±0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	German Communist Party (DKP)	3,953	0.0	±0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Freedom Party (FP Deutschlands)	2,003	0.0	±0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Alliance for Germany (Deutschland)	571	0.0	±0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Electoral groups and independents	43,116	0.1	±0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
Invalid/blank votes		741,037	—	—	—	—	586,281	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Totals		48,582,761	100	±0.0	299	–29	48,582,761	100	±0.0	304	–37	603	–66	100
Registered voters/turnout		61,432,868	79.1	—	—	—	61,432,868	79.1	—	—	—	—	—	—
Source: Federal Returning Officer

Seat results – SPD in red, Greens in green, PDS in purple, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

The coalition between the SPD and the Greens continued in government with Gerhard Schröder as chancellor. However, due to the slim majority in the Bundestag, the governing coalition was not stable.

• Pulzer, Peter (April 2003). "The devil they know: The German federal election of 2002". West European Politics. 26 (2): 153–164. doi:10.1080/01402380512331341151.

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos