2011 Bremen state election

The 2011 Bremen state election was held on 22 May 2011 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven.^[1][2] The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens was re-elected with an increased majority. The Greens became the second-largest party in a state legislature for the second time after the 2011 Baden-Württemberg state election on 27 March.^[3][4]

2011 Bremen state election

← 2007 22 May 2011 2015 →
All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen 42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,309,355 (55.5%) 2.1%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jens Böhrnsen Karoline Linnert Rita Mohr-Lüllmann Party SPD Greens CDU Last election 32 seats, 36.7% 14 seats, 16.5% 23 seats, 25.6% Seats won 36 21 20 Seat change 4 7 3 Popular vote 505,348 293,993 266,483 Percentage 38.6% 22.5% 20.4% Swing 1.9% 6.0% 5.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Kristina Vogt Jan Timke Oliver Möllenstädt Party Left Citizens in Rage FDP Last election 7 seats, 8.4% 1 seat, 0.8% 5 seats, 6.0% Seats won 5 1 0 Seat change 2 0 5 Popular vote 73,769 48,530 31,176 Percentage 5.6% 3.7% 2.4% Swing 2.8% 2.9% 3.6%
Mayor before election Jens Böhrnsen SPD Elected Mayor Jens Böhrnsen SPD

Sixteen and seventeen year olds were able to vote for the first time in this election.^[5] A reform to the electoral system came into effect in this election, based on an open list system, with each voter having five votes to distribute freely between parties and candidates.^[5]

Parties

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

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2007 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Jens Böhrnsen	36.7%	32 / 83
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Rita Mohr-Lüllmann	25.6%	23 / 83
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Karoline Linnert	16.5%	14 / 83
	Linke	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism	Kristina Vogt	8.4%	7 / 83
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Oliver Möllenstädt	6.0%	5 / 83
	NPD	National Democratic Party of Germany Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Neo-Nazism		2.7%[a]	1 / 83
	BiW	Citizens in Rage Bürger in Wut	Right-wing populism	Jan Timke	0.8%	1 / 83

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	Grüne	Linke	FDP	BiW	Others	Lead
2011 state election	22 May 2011	–	38.6	20.4	22.5	5.6	2.4	3.7	6.9	16.1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	10–12 May 2011	1,037	37	19	24	6	4	–	7	13
Infratest dimap	10–12 May 2011	1,001	36	20	24	7	3	3	7	12
Emnid	20–28 Apr 2011	1,004	37	22	24	7	4	–	6	13
Forsa	Jan–Feb 2011	1,308	38	23	22	7	4	–	6	15
Konkret Marktforschung	17–19 Dec 2010	500	33.4	22.8	19.4	8.5	3.3	5.5	7.1	10.6
Emnid	12–17 Feb 2010	1,000	35	25	17	11	5	–	7	10
2007 state election	13 May 2007	–	36.7	25.6	16.5	8.4	6.0	0.8	5.9	11.1

Election result

Summary of the 22 May 2011 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Bremen	Bremerhaven	Total Seats	+/-
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	505,348	38.60	+1.9	30	6	36	+4
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	293,993	22.46	+6.0	17	4	21	+7
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	266,483	20.35	-5.2	16	4	20	-3
	The Left (Linke)	73,769	5.63	-2.8	5	0	5	-2
	Citizens in Rage (BiW)	48,530	3.71	+2.9	0	1	1	±0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	31,176	2.38	-3.6	0	0	0	-5
	Pirate Party (Piraten)	24,935	1.90	+1.9	0	0	0	±0
	National Democratic Party (NDP)	20,470	1.56	-1.1	0	0	0	±0
	Others	44,541	3.40		0	0	0	±0
Total		1,309,245	100.00	–	68	15	83	0

Popular Vote SPD   38.60% B'90/GRÜNE   22.45% CDU   20.35% DIE LINKE   5.63% BiW   3.71% FDP   2.38% Other   6.88%

Bürgerschaft seats SPD   43.37% B'90/GRÜNE   25.30% CDU   24.10% DIE LINKE   6.02% BiW   1.20%

Notes

1. Results for the German People's Union, which merged with the NPD in January 2011.