2015 Bremen state election

The 2015 Bremen state election was held on 10 May 2015 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven.[1] The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens retained its majority. However, Mayor and SPD leader Jens Böhrnsen resigned due to his party's poor performance, which was significantly below expectations. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Carsten Sieling.[2]

2015 Bremen state election

10 May 2015

All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen
42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,168,352 (50.2%)
5.3%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jens Böhrnsen Elisabeth Motschmann Karoline Linnert
Party SPD CDU Green
Last election 36 seats, 38.6% 20 seats, 20.4% 21 seats, 22.5%
Seats won 29 20 14
Seat change 7 0 7
Popular vote 383,509 261,929 176,807
Percentage 32.8% 22.4% 15.1%
Swing 5.8% 2.0% 7.4%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Kristina Vogt Lencke Wischhusen Christian Schäfer
Party Left FDP AfD
Last election 5 seats, 5.6% 0 seats, 2.4% Did not exist
Seats won 8 6 4
Seat change 3 6 4
Popular vote 111,485 76,754 64,368
Percentage 9.5% 6.6% 5.5%
Swing 3.9% 4.2% New party

  Seventh party
 
Leader Jan Timke
Party BIW
Last election 1 seat, 3.7%
Seats won 1
Seat change 0
Popular vote 37,759
Percentage 3.2%
Swing 0.5%

Mayor before election

Jens Böhrnsen
SPD

Elected Mayor

Carsten Sieling
SPD

Analysts expressed surprise about the low turnout (just 50.1%), the lowest since 1945 in a west German state, and concern about a particularly low turnout in impoverished areas, which was seen as an indication of disillusionment with politics in these demographics.[3]

Background

Following the election in 2011, the Social Democrats and Greens continued their coalition government from the previous legislative period. The composition changed several times since the last election following the death of Renate Möbius, Martin Korol took her place in the SPD caucus. He later left the party and sat as an independent before joining the Citizens in Rage. For the CDU, Oğuzhan Yazıcı replaced Elisabeth Motschmann when she was elected to the Bundestag. There were personnel changes in the caucus of Alliance '90/The Greens as well.

Electoral system

Each voter may distribute five votes among party lists or candidates within them (cumulative voting and panachage).[4] The state of Bremen consists of two cities, Bremen and Bremerhaven. Of the 83 members of the state legislature, 68 are elected in Bremen, 15 in Bremerhaven. To be allocated seats from either Bremen or Bremerhaven a party must receive 5% of the vote or more in the respective city. In Bremen (but not in Bremerhaven), the same ballot is also used to determine the composition of the city legislature, also consisting of 68 members who in most cases are the same as Bremen's representatives in the state legislature. Differences may, however, arise since EU citizens resident in Bremen who are not also German citizens may vote in city legislature elections but not in state legislature elections.[5] In the 2003 elections, the 2007 elections, and the current election, this led to one or more of Bremen's seats being allocated to different candidates in the state legislature and in the city legislature.

The state government (Senate), the head of state government (President of the Senate), and the heads of the city governments (Mayor) are later elected by the respective legislatures.

All Germans who have lived in Bremen for at least three months prior to the election are eligible to vote. As of the last election, the voting age is 16, the eligibility age 18. Non-German EU citizens resident in Bremen may vote in city legislature elections but not in state legislature elections which for German citizens in Bremen (but not in Bremerhaven) happen with the same votes on the same ballot.

Parties

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

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2011 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Jens Böhrnsen 38.6%
36 / 83
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Elisabeth Motschmann 20.4%
20 / 83
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Green politics Karoline Linnert 22.5%
21 / 83
Linke The Left
Die Linke
Democratic socialism Kristina Vogt 5.6%
5 / 83
BiW Citizens in Rage
Bürger in Wut
Right-wing populism Jan Timke 3.7%
1 / 83

Opinion polls

Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size
SPD Grüne CDU Linke BIW FDP AfD Others Lead
2015 state election 10 May 2015 32.8 15.1 22.4 9.5 3.2 6.6 5.5 4.8 10.4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 6–7 May 2015 1,000 36.0 15.0 23.0 8.5 3.0 6.5 5.0 3.0 13
Infratest dimap 28–29 Apr 2015 1,001 37 16 22 8 3 6 5 3 15
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 27–29 Apr 2015 1,013 37 15 23 9 3 5 5 3 14
INSA 16–20 Apr 2015 500 37 12 25 9 3 6 5 3 12
Infratest dimap 10–14 Apr 2015 1,001 38 16 23 6 3 5 5 4 15
2014 European election 25 May 2014 34.4 17.6 22.4 9.6 3.3 5.8 6.9 12.0
FGW Telefonfeld 31 Mar–9 Apr 2014 1,002 40 16 28 8 3 5 12
Emnid 15–25 Jan 2014 1,401 37 17 21 9 3 5 8 16
2013 federal election 22 Sep 2013 35.6 12.1 29.3 10.1 3.4 3.7 5.8 6.3
2011 state election 22 May 2011 38.6 22.5 20.4 5.6 3.7 2.4 6.9 16.1

Election result

Summary of the 10 May 2015 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen

Party Votes % +/- Seats Total
seats
+/- Seats %
Bremen Bremerhaven
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 383,509 32.8 5.8 24 6 30 7 36.1
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 261,929 22.4 2.0 16 4 20 0 24.1
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 176,807 15.1 7.4 12 2 14 7 16.9
The Left (Linke) 111,485 9.5 3.9 7 1 8 3 9.6
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 76,754 6.6 4.2 5 1 6 6 7.2
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 64,368 5.5 New 4 0 4 New 4.8
Citizens in Rage (BiW) 37,759 3.2 0.5 0 1 1 0 1.2
Die PARTEI (PARTEI) 21,888 1.9 1.9 0 0 0 ±0 0
Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) 17,773 1.5 0.4 0 0 0 ±0 0
Human Environment Animal Protection 13,910 1.2 1.2 0 0 0 ±0 0
National Democratic Party (NPD) 2,170 0.2 1.4 0 0 0 ±0 0
Total 1,168,352 100.0 68 15 83 ±0
Voter turnout 50.2 5.3
Popular Vote
SPD
32.83%
CDU
22.42%
B'90/GRÜNE
15.13%
DIE LINKE
9.54%
FDP
6.57%
AfD
5.51%
BiW
3.23%
Other
4.77%
Bürgerschaft seats
SPD
36.14%
CDU
24.10%
B'90/GRÜNE
16.87%
DIE LINKE
9.64%
FDP
7.23%
AfD
4.82%
BiW
1.20%

References

  1. "Wahlen". Bremen. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  2. "Bremen Mayor Jens Böhrnsen declines returning to chief minister's post". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  3. "Ärmere gehen seltener zur Wahl" [The poor participate less often in elections] (in German). Nordwest Zeitung. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  4. "BremWahlG" [Bremen Electoral Law] (in German). Gesetzesportal. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  5. "Bremer Wahl-ABC" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Bremen (Statistical Office of the State of Bremen). Retrieved May 18, 2015.
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