2011 Berlin state election


The 2011 Berlin state election was held on 18 September 2011 to elect the members of the 17th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent government consisting of the Social Democratic Party and The Left lost its majority.
The SPD lost five seats, remaining the largest party, while The Left lost three. The Christian Democratic Union made small gains, while The Greens moved into third place with 30 seats. The Free Democratic Party lost three-quarters of its votes and all its seats. The Pirate Party contested its first Berlin state election and won fifteen seats with 8.9% of the vote. This was the first time the party had been elected to a state parliament anywhere in Germany.
The SPD initially sought a coalition with The Greens, but talks broke down over the extension of the Bundesautobahn 100. A coalition agreement between the SPD and CDU was finalised in November, with Mayor Klaus Wowereit continuing in office.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 16th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.

Issues and campaign

Christian Democratic Union

The CDU considered safety on the Berlin U-Bahn an issue after a number of attacks on the property of the U-Bahn. The party published material using images from attacks captioned with the question "Safe?" These were later recalled. The CDU also posted billboards comparing the number of police officers cut from the force by the red-red coalition with the number of crimes committed on the city's buses and U-Bahn trains. Nils Diederich, a professor of political science at the Free University of Berlin, stated prior to the election that he did not believe this would be much of an issue due to a positive mood within the city.

Social Democratic Party

The SPD top candidate and mayor Klaus Wowereit stated, after "well-publicized attacks" in late winter and spring, that he planned to heighten security by increasing the number of police officers by 200 and lengthening the time video surveillance recordings are kept before being erased from 24 to 48 hours.

Post-election

Election results and analysis

The Free Democratic Party representation was removed from the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin after they failed to reach the 5% threshold. This was the fifth time in 2011 in Germany that the Free Democrats failed to obtain representation in a state parliament. They also lost representation in Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Baden-Württemberg and Hamburg are the only states in which they reached the 5% electoral threshold in that year. The win in Berlin marks the 7th time out of seven elections in 2011 that the Social Democrats got into government.

Voting problems

On 21 September 2011, election officials found that the results of the Green Party and The Left were inadvertently swapped in the Lichtenberg district. Evrim Baba-Sommer of the Green Party will replace Karin Seidel-Kalmutzki of the Social Democratic Party.
On 22 September 2011, Norbert Kopp, the district mayor for Steglitz-Zehlendorf, confirmed at least 379 postal ballots had found their way into the bin of a block of flats. The ballots were properly sent to the Zehlendorf city hall and the votes could change a number of the local council seats. The police have started an investigation over the incident.

Coalition talks

Initially, the Social Democrats concentrated on forming a coalition with the Greens. However, on 5 October 2011, coalition talks between the SPD and the Greens broke down. The disagreement was about the extension of Bundesautobahn 100. The Green Party platform had insisted on not extending the Bundesautobahn 100. The Social Democrats offered a compromise to not go ahead with the 3.2 km extension A100 if the €420 million provided by the federal government could be invested in other transportation infrastructure projects. However, the federal government rejected the possibility of transferring the money to other projects. Green Party head Bettina Jarasch stated that "There was not really the will within the SPD to work together with us on a coalition" while the Berliner Zeitung wrote that "the left-wing of the SPD felt Wowereit and Müller had actually wanted to form a coalition with the CDU and had deliberately put the Greens in an impossible situation." Michael Müller, chairman of Berlin chapter of the Social Democratic Party, had "threatened to look towards the CDU" over the past weekend, because the Greens "stuck to their opposition to the motorway extension". Müller pointed out to the Greens "that the Red-Green coalition would only have a one-vote majority compared to the stable 10-vote majority which would be achieved in coalition with the CDU". Wolfgang Thierse, deputy Parliamentary group leader, stated "that he was surprised and a little disappointed at the breakdown of talks" and "Just as Red-Green would not have been heaven for Berlin, Red-Black would not be hell". Renate Künast, leader of the Berlin Chapter of the Green Party, stated that Klaus Wowereit "wanted a surrender, and no coalition".
The Social Democrats therefore continued talks with the Christian Democrats so that a grand coalition that would govern Berlin was finalized on 16 November 2011. According to the 100-page coalition agreement, Wowereit will continue as mayor. Also, each party receives four ministries: Social Democrats will be in charge of the Finance, City development/Environment, Education/Youth/Science, and Jobs/Integration/Women portfolios, whereas the Christian Democrats will have Interior/Sports, Economy/Technology/Research, Health/Social, and Justice/Consumer protection. Disagreements between the two parties have been settled. There will be for example a "City tax" of 5% for hotel guests beginning in 2013 and the minimum wage for public contract jobs will increase by €1 per hour. Plans were dropped for making teachers civil servants again and requiring property owners to contribute to street improvement costs. Wowereit summarised the talks by saying "We want Berlin to become richer and to stay sexy".

Opinion polling

Polling firmFieldwork dateSample
size		SPDCDULinkeGrüneFDPPiratenOthersLead
Polling firmFieldwork dateSample
size		OthersLead
18 Sep 2011–28.323.411.617.61.88.98.34.9
9–11 Sep 20111,504312212182969
5–8 Sep 20111,49232211119.535.5811
6–8 Sep 20111,00029.522122036.587.5
29 Aug – 1 Sep 20111,001322311204469
5–30 Aug 20111,1003221111945811
26–29 Aug 20111,0003022112234.57.58
22–25 Aug 2011576332411195449
22–25 Aug 201193333.020.510.520.53.54.57.512.5
8–12 Aug 20111,047362382224.5513
5–8 Aug 20111,000312212224369
18–28 Jul 20111,003301913243–116
11–14 Jul 20111,042292113262–93
6–14 Jul 20111,002322114223–810
1–4 Jul 20111,000292314243255
20–29 Jun 20111,001311811273–104
6–8 Jun 20111,002331712293–64
3–6 Jun 20111,000302112254–85
18–26 May 20111,005311710273–124
May 20111,000282011312–73
6–9 May 20111,003292113263–83
18–28 Apr 20111,004291810292–12Tie
8–14 Apr 20111,043272013303–?3
6–7 Apr 20111,000272014293–72
1–4 Apr 20111,000262115283–72
16–21 Mar 20111,002321911293–?3
14–24 Mar 20111,001291913244–125
18 Feb – 1 Mar 20111,018302013224–11.78
15–24 Feb 20111,006301813234–127
11–14 Feb 20111,000282316233–75
5–13 Jan 20111,001281914243–124
5–6 Jan 20111,000292017254–54
7–16 Dec 20101,004271915254–102
16–25 Nov 20101,002272117273–5Tie
16–25 Nov 20101,002261816283–92
19–28 Oct 20101,004271714293–102
25–26 Oct 20101,000222017303–88
21–29 Sep 20101,006261615303–104
13 Sep 2010?281915254–93
3–6 Sep 20101,000242216284–64
17–26 Aug 20101,001261716274–101
19–29 Jul 20101,005271715274–10Tie
17–24 Jun 20101,001271917253–98
4–7 Jun 20101,001252517235–5Tie
18–27 May 20101,003262117224–105
19–29 Apr 20101,006262015237–96
15–25 Mar 20101,003252217215–103
19–22 Mar 20101,000232519216–62
12–25 Feb 20101,001252218196–103
25 Jan – 5 Feb 20101,005242317205–111
14–22 Dec 20091,005212518197–104
4–7 Dec 20091,000232517199–52
19–26 Nov 20091,002222317217–101
26–29 Oct 20091,004202416208–124
15–24 Sep 20091,007242115208–123
4–7 Sep 20091,0002422162010–82
19–27 Aug 20091,005222316209–101
14–23 Jul 20091,0032223151912–91
2–6 Jul 20091,0002523142012–62
16–25 Jun 20091,0072224161911–82
18–28 May 20091,0072621161811–85
20–27 Apr 20091,0002721161611–96
6–9 Apr 20092,5002922151711–67
16–26 Mar 20091,0042920141812–79
3 March 20091,0012721151614–76
January 20091,0052823151710–75
29 Dec 2008?2820171611–88
4–8 Dec 20081,000282416179–64
17–27 Nov 20081,006262019179–96
20–30 Oct 20081,003272219158–95
29 Sep 20081,0022818181710–910
4–8 Sep 20081,000292116189–78
18–28 Aug 20081,008272118169–?6
14–24 Jul 20081,001262020178–96
16–26 Jun 20081,000282118159–?7
6–9 Jun 20081,000272318189–54
19–29 May 20081,000272318158–94
14–24 Apr 20081,204282316168–95
11–16 Apr 20082,500292517167–64
13–27 Mar 20081,000262316168–113
7–10 Mar 20081,000292318167–76
18–28 Feb 20081,000282216148–126
14–24 Jan 20081,000282515157–103
11–20 Dec 20071,002282316147–125
7–10 Dec 20071,000312315167–88
5–15 Nov 20071,000302215157–118
9–12 Nov 20071,000312516165–76
8–18 Oct 20071,003282215149–126
5–8 Oct 20071,000332514146–88
11–20 Sep 20071,001262417138–122
7–9 Sep 20071,000312416165–87
13–23 Aug 20071,002282216156–136
16–26 Jul 20071,001262415147–142
29 Jun – 2 Jul 20071,000312416157–77
18–28 Jun 20071,001242217158–142
1–4 Jun 20071,000302315177–87
21–24 May 20071,005272113178–146
27–29 Apr 20071,000322115168–811
18–26 Apr 20071,001252214178–143
30 Mar – 2 Apr 20071,000332213158–911
5–15 Mar 20071,001262013178–166
2–5 Mar 20071,000312213168–109
12–15 Feb 20071,000281913168–169
2–5 Feb 20071,000332114148–1012
8–18 Jan 20071,000301912158–1611
11–21 Dec 20061,001291715168–1512
13–23 Nov 20061,014281914149–168
9–19 Oct 20061,001282013158–168
17 Sep 2006–30.821.313.413.17.6–13.89.5

Election result

Summary of 18 September 2011 election results for the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
! colspan="2" | Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
! Seats %
! colspan=8|
! align=right colspan=2| Total
! align=right| 1,461,185
! align=right| 100.0
! align=right|
! align=right| 152
! align=right| 3
! align=right|
! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout
! align=right|
! align=right| 60.2
! align=right| 2.2
! align=right|
! align=right|
! align=right|