1999 Brandenburg state election

1999 Brandenburg state election

5 September 1999
All 89 seats in the Landtag of Brandenburg 45 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,102,360 (54.3%) 2.0%
First party Second party   Leader Manfred Stolpe Jörg Schönbohm Party SPD CDU Leader's seat Cottbus II State-wide party list Last election 52 seats, 54.1% 18 seats, 18.7% Seats won 37 25 Seat change 15 7 Popular vote 433,521 292,634 Percentage 39.3% 26.5% Swing 14.8% 7.8%   Third party Fourth party   PDS DVU Leader Wolfgang Thiel Axel Hesselbarth Party PDS DVU Leader's seat State-wide party list Did not run Last election 18 seats, 18.7% Did not contest Seats won 22 5 Seat change 4 5 Popular vote 257,309 58,247 Percentage 23.3% 5.3% Swing 4.6% 5.3%
Results for the single-member constituencies
Government before election Stolpe II SPD majority Government after election Stolpe III SPD–CDU

The 1999 Brandenburg state election was held on 5 September 1999 to elect the members of the 3rd Landtag of Brandenburg. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) majority government led by Minister-President Manfred Stolpe lost its majority. The SPD subsequently formed a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Stolpe continued as Minister-President.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 2nd Landtag of Brandenburg.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1994 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Manfred Stolpe	54.1%	52 / 88
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Jörg Schönbohm	18.7%	18 / 88
	PDS	Party of Democratic Socialism Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus	Democratic socialism		18.7%	18 / 88

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	PDS	Grüne	FDP	DVU	Others	Lead
1999 state election	5 Sep 1999	–	39.3	26.5	23.3	1.9	1.9	5.3	1.7	12.7
Infratest dimap	18–24 Aug 1999	1,000	44	23	23	2	1	5	2	21
dimap	2–11 Aug 1999	1,014	42	27	20	3	3	3	2	15
Forsa	August 1999	1,002	44	23	23	2	2	4	2	19
Infratest dimap	28 Jun–4 Jul 1999	1,000	42	29	20	3	1	–	5	13
dimap	18–22 Jun 1999	1,021	40	27	21	3	2	–	7	13
Infratest dimap	17–22 May 1999	1,000	50	25	18	3	1	–	3	25
Infratest dimap	15–21 Mar 1999	1,000	51	23	18	3	2	–	3	28
Infratest dimap	23–28 Nov 1998	1,000	55	18	18	4	3	–	4	37
Infratest dimap	21–29 Mar 1998	1,000	58	15	17	4	2	–	4	43
1994 state election	5 Sep 1994	–	54.1	18.7	18.7	2.9	2.2	–	3.1	35.4

Election result

Summary of the 5 September 1999 election results for the Landtag of Brandenburg

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	433,521	39.33	14.81	37	15
	Christian Democratic Union	292,634	26.55	7.83	25	7
	Party of Democratic Socialism	257,309	23.34	4.62	22	4
	German People's Union (DVU)	58,247	5.28	5.28	5	5
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	21,410	1.94	0.95	0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	20,472	1.86	0.34	0
	Others	18,767	1.70		0
Total		1,102,360	100.00	–	89	–
Registered voters/turnout			54.3	2.0

Popular Vote SPD   39.33% CDU   26.55% PDS   23.34% DVU   5.28% B'90/GRÜNE   1.94% FDP   1.86% Other   1.70%

Landtag seats SPD   41.57% CDU   28.09% PDS   24.72% DVU   5.62%

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer