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All 71 seats in the Landtag 36 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 821,581 (61.9%)  10.4pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results for the single-member constituencies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2016 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 4 September 2016 to elect the members of the 7th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[1] The incumbent grand coalition between the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Minister-President Erwin Sellering retained its majority and continued in office.
Campaign and issues
The governing grand coalition between the SPD and CDU was campaigning to defend its majority. Furthermore, the result of the right wing AfD party was eagerly awaited. During the campaign, its frontrunner, Leif-Erik Holm, warned of the "spread of Islam". The party hoped to be the strongest political force after the elections.[2]
Asked for the most important issues, Forschungsgruppe Wahlen/Politbarometer pollees ranked "unemployment" on first place (38%), followed by "refugees/asylum" (25%) and "school/education" (12%). Incumbent Erwin Sellering (64%) was far more popular as a candidate for Minister President than the CDU candidate Lorenz Caffier (18%).[3] In an infratest dimap poll, however, 34% named "refugees/migration" as the top issue, followed by "social justice" (27%) and "labor and economy" (20%).[4]
During the final days of the state election campaign, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has her constituency for the federal elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and spoke in support of CDU candidate Caffier, she hardened her tone against immigrants and spoke in favor of deporting more of them, using the word "Rückführung" (repatriation) instead of "Abschiebung" (deportation) – though deportations are difficult to realize amid laws and international relations to the immigrants' home countries. On 1 September, Merkel for the first time admitted mistakes in her refugee policies, but only such that had been made years ago in 2004/05. According to Die Zeit, some saw a turn in her policies of Willkommenskultur and presumed "angst" in the Chancellor's office.[5]
But in general, during the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern campaign, Merkel defended her refugee policies and the dictum "Wir schaffen das" ("We'll manage it"), saying she would have done everything again as she did the previous year. CDU candidate Caffier demanded prohibition of the burqa – even if there are hardly any women wearing a burqa in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern –, more police officers and more development of the rural areas. At the same time, SPD Minister President and frontrunner Erwin Sellering distanced himself from Merkel's refugee policies and demanded more respect for the life-time achievements of the East German people. Sellering e.g. stated: "It must not be, that our people are suffering, because the refugees are there."[6] On 2 September, Sellering said on the nationwide ZDF channel, Merkel was responsible for the popularity of the AfD in the state: "The people who can imagine to elect the AfD, are clearly concerned about the refugee policies of the chancellor."[7]
Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 6th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
| Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2011 result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
Social democracy | Erwin Sellering | 35.6% | 27 / 71
| |
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands |
Christian democracy | Lorenz Caffier | 23.0% | 18 / 71
| |
| Linke | The Left Die Linke |
Democratic socialism | Helmut Holter | 18.4% | 14 / 71
| |
| Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen |
Green politics | Silke Gajek | 8.7% | 7 / 71
| |
| NPD | National Democratic Party Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
Neo-Nazism | Udo Pastörs | 6.0% | 5 / 71
| |
Opinion polling
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size |
SPD | CDU | Linke | Grüne | NPD | FDP | AfD | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 state election | 4 Sep 2016 | – | 30.6 | 19.0 | 13.2 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 20.8 | 5.6 | 9.8 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 31 Aug–1 Sep 2016 | 1,133 | 28 | 22 | 13 | 6 | – | 3 | 22 | 6 | 6 |
| INSA | 29 Aug 2016 | 1,031 | 28 | 20 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 4 | 8 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 23–25 Aug 2016 | 1,020 | 28 | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | – | 21 | 7 | 6 |
| Infratest dimap | 23–24 Aug 2016 | 1,003 | 27 | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 5 | 5 |
| Infratest dimap | 11–16 Aug 2016 | 1,003 | 26 | 23 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 4 | 3 |
| INSA | 2–9 Aug 2016 | 1,000 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 1 |
| Infratest dimap | 23–27 Jun 2016 | 1,002 | 22 | 25 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 21–26 Apr 2016 | 1,000 | 22 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 4 | 2 |
| INSA | 3–9 Feb 2016 | 1,002 | 22 | 29 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 7 |
| Marktforschungsservice Dukath | 6–13 Jan 2016 | 750 | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=2016_Mecklenburg-Vorpommern_state_election