Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Schleswig-Holstein state election, 2005
The Schleswig-Holstein state election, 2005, was conducted on February 20, 2005, to elect members to the Landtag (state legislature) of Schleswig-Holstein.
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Issues and Campaign
Surveys before the election indicated that most voters considered high unemployment in Germany and Schleswig-Holstein to be the key issue of the campaign. Pre-election polls indicated that the personal popularity of Heide Simonis was still high, though, and that the SPD-Green coalition would continue to have the support of a plurality of voters. However, the unpopularity of the national SPD and the Hartz IV reforms appear to have taken a toll.
Results
The announced results are as follows. Note that there is a considerable reduction in the number of Landtag seats.
| Party | Party List votes | Vote percentage (change) | Total Seats (change) | Seat percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 554,844 | 38.7% | -4.4% | 29 | -12 | 42.0% |
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 576,100 | 40.2% | +5.0% | 30 | -3 | 43.5% |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 94,920 | 6.6% | -1.0% | 4 | -3 | 5.8% |
| Alliance '90/The Greens | 89,330 | 6.2% | +0.0% | 4 | -1 | 5.8% |
| South Schleswig Voter Federation | 51,901 | 3.6% | -0.5% | 2 | -1 | 2.9% |
| National Democratic Party (NPD) | 27,656 | 1.9% | +0.9% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) | 11,376 | 0.8% | -0.6% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| Family | 11,774 | 0.8% | +0.8% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| Grays | 7,523 | 0.5% | +0.3% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| All Others | 9,203 | 0.6% | -0.5% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| Totals | 1,434,627 | 100.0% | 69 | -20 | 100.0% | |
Post-election
Although the SPD-Green coalition no longer commanded a majority of the Landtag, the SSW announced that although it would not enter an official coalition, it saw more common ground with the SPD than the CDU. Premier Heide Simonis proceeded to form a Red-Green coalition with the assumption of SSW backing.
On March 17, 2005, Simonis failed to win a Landtag vote for the premiership, with the secret ballot tying 34-34. It is not known who the abstainer was, but this prevents the formation of a Red-Green coalition. It appears that a grand coalition between the CDU and SPD will be the only way to break the deadlock. This will presumably require Simonis to resign.
Sources
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