1998 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election

The 1998 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 27 September 1998 to elect the members of the 3rd Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The incumbent government was a grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Berndt Seite. The SPD overtook the CDU as the largest party and chose not to continue the grand coalition. They subsequently formed a coalition with the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the first of its kind in Germany on the state level, and SPD leader Harald Ringstorff was elected Minister-President.

1998 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election

← 1994 27 September 1998 2002 →

All 71 seats in the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
36 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,084,611 (79.4%)
Increase 6.5%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Harald Ringstorff Berndt Seite Helmut Holter
Party SPD CDU PDS
Last election 23 seats, 29.5% 30 seats, 37.7% 18 seats, 22.7%
Seats won 27 24 20
Seat change Increase 4 Decrease 6 Increase 2
Popular vote 371,885 327,948 264,299
Percentage 34.3% 30.2% 24.4%
Swing Increase 4.8% Decrease 7.5% Increase 1.7%

Results for the single-member constituencies

Minister-President before election

Berndt Seite
CDU

Elected Minister-President

Harald Ringstorff
SPD

Parties

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The table below lists parties represented in the 2nd Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 1994 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Berndt Seite 37.7%
30 / 71
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Harald Ringstorff 29.5%
23 / 71
PDS Party of Democratic Socialism
Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus
Democratic socialism Helmut Holter 22.7%
18 / 71

Opinion polling

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Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size
CDU SPD PDS FDP Grüne Others Lead
1998 state election 27 Sep 1998 30.2 34.3 24.4 1.6 2.7 6.9 4.1
Infratest dimap 7–13 Sep 1998 1,000 30 38 22 2 3 5 8
Infratest dimap 26 Aug 1998 ? 28 41 20 2 4 5 13
Emnid 8 Aug 1998 ? 28 39 20 2 4 8 11
Infratest dimap 21 Jul 1998 ? 26 39 23 2 4 6 13
Infratest dimap 9 Feb–29 Mar 1998 904 28 43 19 2 5 3 15
1994 state election 16 Oct 1994 37.7 29.5 22.7 3.8 3.7 2.6 8.2

Election result

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Summary of the 27 September 1998 election results for the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Party Votes % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 371,885 34.3  4.8 27  4 38.0
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 327,948 30.2  7.5 24  6 33.8
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) 264,299 24.4  1.7 20  2 28.2
German People's Union (DVU) 31,194 2.9  2.9 0 ±0 0
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 29,240 2.7  1.0 0 ±0 0
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 17,062 1.6  2.2 0 ±0 0
Pro DM 15,619 1.4 New 0 New 0
National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) 11,531 1.1  1.0 0 ±0 0
Others 5,809 1.5 0 ±0 0
Total 1,084,511 100.0 71  5
Voter turnout 79.4  6.5
Popular Vote
SPD
34.29%
CDU
30.24%
PDS
24.37%
DVU
2.88%
B'90/GRÜNE
2.70%
FDP
1.57%
Other
3.96%
Bürgerschaft seats
SPD
38.03%
CDU
33.80%
PDS
28.17%

Sources

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