2013 Bavarian state election


The 2013 Bavarian state election was held on 15 September 2013 to elect the 180 members of the 17th Landtag of Bavaria. It was held one week before the 2013 German federal election. The CSU regained the absolute majority it had lost in 2008, while the Free Democratic Party, a member of the outgoing governing coalition, fell below the 5% electoral threshold and lost all its seats. Minister-President Horst Seehofer continued in office.
As of 2020, this is the latest state or federal election in which a party managed to get an absolute majority. The CSU previously held an absolute majority, and therefore governed alone, from 1966 to 2008 and again from 2013 to 2018.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 16th Landtag of Bavaria.

Opinion polling

Election result

The CSU regained an absolute majority of the seats, which they had lost in the 2008 election after 50 years of single-party government. The FDP, which had governed with the CSU since 2008, fell below the 5% threshold and lost all its seats. SPD, the Greens and Free Voters remained in opposition. A record number of 14.1% of the votes cast went unrepresented in the Landtag because of the 5% threshold.
Summary of the 15 September 2013 election results for the Landtag of Bavaria
! colspan="2" | Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
! Seats %
! colspan=8|
! align=right colspan=2| Total
! align=right| 11,812,965
! align=right| 100.0
! align=right|
! align=right| 180
! align=right| 7
! align=right|
! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout
! align=right|
! align=right| 63.6
! align=right| 5.5
! align=right|
! align=right|
! align=right|