2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election

The 2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election will be held on 6 June 2021 to elect the 8th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt.[1] The current government is coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Social Democratic Party (SPD), and The Greens, led by Minister-President Reiner Haseloff.

Next Saxony-Anhalt state election
6 June 2021
All 83 seats in the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt (plus overhang and leveling seats)
42+ seats needed for a majority
 
Candidate Reiner Haseloff Oliver Kirchner Eva von Angern
Party CDU AfD Left
Leader's seat Dessau-Roßlau-Wittenberg Magdeburg I List
Last election 30 seats, 29.8% 24 seats, 24.3% 16 seats, 16.3%
 
Candidate Katja Pähle Cornelia Lüddemann
Party SPD Green
Leader's seat List List
Last election 11 seats, 10.6% 5 seats, 5.2%
Incumbent Minister-President

Reiner Haseloff
CDU

Election date

The Landtag is elected for five years, with its term commencing when the new Landtag first meets. Election must take place between 58 and 62 months after the start of the legislative period.[2] In November 2019, the state government announced that the election will take place on 6 June 2021.[1]

Electoral system

The Landtag is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 41 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 42 members are then allocated using compensatory proportional representation, distributed in each of Berlin's twelve boroughs. Voters have two votes: the "first vote" for candidates in single-member constituencies, and the "second vote" for party lists, which are used to fill the proportional seats. The minimum size of the Landtag is 83 members, but if overhang seats are present, proportional leveling seats will be added to ensure proportionality. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are excluded from the Landtag.[3]

Background
Main article: 2016 Saxony-Anhalt state election

In the previous election held on 13 March 2016, the CDU remained the largest party with 29.8% of votes cast, a decline of 2.7 percentage points. Alternative for Germany (AfD) contested its first election in Saxony-Anhalt, winning 24.3%. The Left fell from second to third place with 16.3%, a decline of 7.4 points. The SPD lost half its voteshare, falling to 10.6%. The Greens narrowly retained their seats with 5.2%.

The CDU had led a coalition with the SPD since 2011, but this government lost its majority in the election. The CDU subsequently formed a coalition with the SPD and Greens.

Parties

The table below lists parties currently represented in the 7th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt.

Name Ideology Lead
candidate		 Leader(s) 2016 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Reiner Haseloff Holger Stahlknecht (leader)
Reiner Haseloff (Minister-President)		 29.8%
30 / 87
AfD Alternative for Germany
Alternative für Deutschland		 German nationalism
Right-wing populism		 Oliver Kirchner Martin Reichardt 24.3%
24 / 87
Linke The Left
Die Linke		 Democratic socialism Eva von Angern Stefan Gebhardt 16.3%
16 / 87
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Katja Pähle Julianne Kleemann
Andreas Schmidt		 10.3%
11 / 87
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen		 Green politics Cornelia Lüddemann Sebastian Striegel
Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz		 5.2%
5 / 87

Campaign

Lead candidates

On 10 July 2020, SPD parliamentary group leader Katja Pähle was elected as the SPD's lead candidate for the election, defeating challenger Roger Stöcker. In a vote by the party membership, Pähle won 834 votes (52.5%) to Stöcker's 652 (41.0%).[4]

On 12 July 2020, The Left party executive nominated deputy Landtag leader Eva von Angern as their lead candidate for the election. Some within the party disapproved of the executive nominating a preferred nominee ahead of time, and desired an open contest between candidates at the conference. The party's district associations in Jerichower Land, Saalekreis, and Magdeburg signed an open letter expressing their disappointment. Party chairman Stefan Gebhardt stated he took the criticism seriously, and that the executive's announcement was simply a suggestion.[5] Angern was elected as lead candidate with 85.6% of votes at a party conference on 30 January 2021.[6]

On 5 September 2020, the Greens party congress elected Landtag group leader Cornelia Lüddemann as their lead candidate for the election.[7]

On 21 September 2020, the CDU confirmed incumbent Minister-President Reiner Haseloff as its lead candidate. In prior months, state party leader Holger Stahlknecht had stated his desire to become top candidate if Haseloff chose not to seek another term as Minister-President.[8] Stahlknecht affirmed his support for Haseloff after the September announcement.[9]

The Free Democratic Party, which narrowly failed to enter the Landtag in 2016, elected deputy leader Lydia Hüskens as its lead candidate on 26 September 2020.[10]

On 20 December 2020, AfD parliamentary group leader Oliver Kirchner was nominated as his party's lead candidate for the election. He ran unopposed, winning 361 of 416 votes at a party conference.[11]

Opinion polling
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 CDU AfD Linke SPD Grüne FDP Others Lead
INSA 19–25 Jan 2021 1,084 30 23 16 10 9 5 7 7
INSA 23–30 Nov 2020 1,079 29 23 17 10 10 4 7 6
GMS 15–29 Jul 2020 1,003 33 19 16 12 10 4 6 14
Infratest dimap 28 May–3 Jun 2020 1,003 34 19 16 13 8 4 6 15
INSA 2–16 Mar 2020 1,005 25 25 18 11 11 4 6 Tie
Infratest dimap 21–25 Aug 2018 1,000 28 21 19 14 6 8 4 7
CONOSCOPE 30 Jan–8 Mar 2018 1,100 35 15 20 16 5 6 3 15
Infratest dimap 12–17 Jun 2017 1,000 40 13 20 13 6 5 3 20
Infratest dimap 15–19 Nov 2016 1,000 33 22 18 15 5 – 7 11
2016 state election 13 Mar 2016 – 29.8 24.3 16.3 10.3 5.2 4.9 9.0 5.5

Notes

    References
    1. "Termin für Landtagswahl 2021 steht - Höhere Kosten für Steuerzahler". Mdr.de.
    2. "Landesverfassung_LV" (PDF). Landtag Sachsen-Anhalt. 20 March 2020.
    3. "Wahlsystem". Landwahlleiter Sachsen-Anhalt.
    4. "SPD: Pähle selected as the top candidate for the state election". n-tv. 10 July 2020.
    5. "Eva von Angern is set to become the top left candidate for the 2021 state election". Mdr.de. 12 July 2020.
    6. "Left goes with faction head in state election campaign". N-tv.de. 30 January 2021.
    7. "Lüddemann leads the Greens in the 2021 state election". Mdr.de. 5 September 2020.
    8. "Stahlknecht will CDU-Spitzenkandidat werden – aber nicht gegen Haseloff antreten". Mdr.de. 9 March 2020.
    9. "Reiner Haseloff is again running as the top CDU candidate in Saxony-Anhalt". Der Spiegel. 21 September 2020.
    10. "State election: FDP elects Lydia Hüskens as the top candidate". Mdr.de. 27 September 2020.
    11. "Kirchner named AfD top candidate". Mdr.de. 20 December 2020.
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