2006 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election
The 2006 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 17 September 2006 to elect the members of the 5th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) led by Minister-President Harald Ringstorff was returned with a reduced majority. However, the SPD chose not to continue the coalition. They instead formed a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Ringstorff was subsequently re-elected as Minister-President.
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All 71 seats in the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 36 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 818,061 (59.2%) 11.4% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Issues and campaign
The economy was a major issue throughout the campaign. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's unemployment rate was among the worst in Germany. The possibility of the far-right NPD entering the parliament also became an issue late in the campaign, with all established parties condemning it.
Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 4th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
| Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2002 result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
Social democracy | Harald Ringstorff | 20.6% | 33 / 71 | |
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands |
Christian democracy | Jürgen Seidel | 31.4% | 25 / 71 | |
| PDS | Party of Democratic Socialism Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus |
Democratic socialism | Wolfgang Methling | 16.4% | 13 / 71 | |
Opinion polling
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size |
SPD | CDU | PDS | FDP | Grüne | NPD | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 state election | 17 Sep 2006 | – | 30.2 | 28.8 | 16.8 | 9.6 | 3.4 | 7.3 | 3.9 | 1.4 |
| Emnid | 5–7 Sep 2006 | 500 | 29 | 31 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 4–7 Sep 2006 | 1,116 | 29 | 33 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| Infratest dimap | 4–6 Sep 2006 | 1,000 | 31 | 30 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Infratest dimap | 27–30 Aug 2006 | 1,000 | 30 | 31 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Emnid | 22–24 Aug 2006 | 500 | 28 | 31 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 20–23 Aug 2006 | 1,000 | 31 | 30 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Forsa | 16–18 Aug 2006 | 1,003 | 28 | 30 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Emnid | 7–10 Aug 2006 | 500 | 29 | 31 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Infratest dimap | 31 Jul–2 Aug 2006 | 1,000 | 29 | 33 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Emnid | 5–12 Jul 2006 | 1,001 | 31 | 33 | 21 | 7 | 4 | – | 4 | 2 |
| Infratest dimap | 10–11 Jul 2006 | 1,000 | 31 | 32 | 21 | 7 | 4 | – | 5 | 1 |
| Emnid | 19–30 May 2006 | 1,009 | 30 | 31 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Infratest | November 2005 | 1,000 | 34 | 29 | 24 | 5 | 4 | – | 4 | 5 |
| Emnid | 5–8 Sep 2005 | 500 | 26 | 35 | 25 | 5 | 4 | – | 5 | 9 |
| Emnid | 22–25 Aug 2005 | 500 | 22 | 32 | 31 | 6 | 5 | – | 4 | 1 |
| Emnid | 8–11 Aug 2005 | 500 | 20 | 31 | 34 | 6 | 6 | – | 3 | 3 |
| Emnid | 25 Sep 2004 | 750 | 28 | 31 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 1–6 Jun 2004 | 1,003 | 29 | 44 | 15 | 5 | 5 | – | 2 | 15 |
| Emnid | 8 May 2004 | 752 | 28 | 39 | 17 | 6 | 7 | – | 3 | 11 |
| Emnid | 7 Nov 2003 | 750 | 26 | 41 | 19 | 5 | 6 | – | 3 | 15 |
| Emnid | 21 Jun 2003 | 750 | 35 | 37 | 14 | 5 | 5 | – | 4 | 2 |
| Emnid | 1 Mar 2003 | ? | 33 | 40 | 14 | 5 | 4 | – | 4 | 7 |
| 2002 state election | 22 Sep 2002 | – | 40.6 | 31.4 | 16.4 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 9.2 |
Election result
Summary of the 17 September 2006 election results for the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
| Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 247,312 | 30.2 | 10.4 |
23 | 10 |
32.4 | |
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 235,530 | 28.8 | 2.6 |
22 | 3 |
31.0 | |
| Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) | 137,253 | 16.8 |  0.4 |
13 |  0 |
18.3 | |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 78,440 | 9.6 | 4.9 |
7 | 7 |
9.9 | |
| National Democratic Party (NPD) | 59,845 | 7.3 | 6.5 |
6 | 6 |
8.5 | |
| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 27,642 | 3.4 | 0.8 |
0 | ±0 | 0 | |
| Family Party (Familie) | 9,463 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
0 | ±0 | 0 | |
| Others | 22,756 | 2.8 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 818,061 | 100.0 | 71 | ±0 | |||
| Voter turnout | 59.2 | 11.4 |
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