2003 Bavarian state election

State election in Bavaria, Germany

2003 Bavarian state election

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| <- 1998 | 21 September 2003 | 2008 ->

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|

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All 180 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria
91 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 10,248,735 (57.1%)
12.7%
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | Edmund Stoiber | Franz Maget  | Sepp Daxenberger
Party  | CSU | SPD | Greens
Last election  | 123 seats, 52.9%  | 67 seats, 28.7%  | 14 seats, 5.7%
Seats won  | 124  | 41  | 15
Seat change  |  1  |  26  |  1
Popular vote  | 6,217,864  | 2,012,265  | 793,050
Percentage  | 60.7%  | 19.6%  | 7.7%
Swing  |  7.8%  |  9.1%  |  2.1%

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Results for the single-member constituencies.

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| Minister-President before election

Edmund Stoiber
CSU

| Elected Minister-President

Edmund Stoiber
CSU

|

The 2003 Bavarian state election was held on 21 September 2003 to elect the members to the 15th Landtag of Bavaria. The Christian Social Union (CSU) led by Minister-President Edmund Stoiber achieved the largest majority in German history, winning 69% of the seats in the Landtag. This election was the first and to date only time a single party won a two-thirds supermajority of seats in any German state parliament. The CSU also won its largest proportion of the popular vote since 1974, at 60.7%.

The election was marked by a major decline in turnout, falling by almost 13 points to 57%. As a result, despite achieving its best result in decades, the CSU won 230,000 votes fewer than it had in the 1998 election.

## Parties

[edit]

The table below lists parties represented in the 14th Landtag of Bavaria.

Name  | Ideology  | Leader(s)  | 1998 result

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|
|

Votes (%)  | Seats
| CSU | Christian Social Union in Bavaria
Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern | Christian democracy | Edmund Stoiber | 52.9%  |

123 / 204

| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Franz Maget  | 28.7%  |

67 / 204

| Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | Green politics | Sepp Daxenberger | 5.7%  |

14 / 204

## Opinion polling

[edit]

Polling firm  | Fieldwork date  | Sample
size  | CSU | SPD | Grüne | FW | FDP | Others  | Lead

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|
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|

|  |  |  |
2003 state election | 21 Sep 2003  | –  | 60.7 | 19.6  | 7.7  | 4.0  | 2.6  | 5.4[a] | 41.1
Infratest dimap | 6–10 Sep 2003  | 1,000  | 59 | 20  | 8  | 4  | 4  | 5  | 39
Forsa | 1–5 Sep 2003  | 1,006  | 61 | 20  | 8  | –  | 4  | 7  | 41
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 1–4 Sep 2003  | 1,033  | 60 | 22  | 8  | 4  | 3  | 3  | 38
Forsa | 4–8 Aug 2003  | 1,001  | 61 | 21  | 8  | –  | 3  | 7  | 40
Forsa | 1–11 Jul 2003  | 1,266  | 59 | 24  | 8  | –  | 3  | 6  | 35
Infratest dimap | 14–18 May 2003  | 1,000  | 60 | 22  | 8  | –  | 4  | 6  | 38
GMS | 13–18 Feb 2003  | 1,004  | 60.0 | 23.0  | 6.5  | 0.5  | 4.0  | 6.0[b] | 37
Infratest dimap | 2–5 Jan 2003  | 1,000  | 61 | 24  | 7  | –  | 3  | 5  | 37
Infratest dimap | 31 Jul–4 Aug 2002  | 1,000  | 57 | 26  | 5  | –  | 5  | 7  | 31
Infratest dimap | 3–7 Apr 2002  | 1,000  | 55 | 28  | 5  | –  | 4  | 8[c] | 27
Infratest dimap | 7–12 Jan 2002  | 1,000  | 56 | 27  | 6  | –  | 4  | 7[d] | 29
GMS | 15 Nov–21 Dec 2001  | 2,014  | 55.0 | 27.5  | 5.0  | 1.5  | 3.5  | 7.5[e] | 27.5
Infratest dimap | 9–13 Jul 2001  | 1,000  | 54 | 29  | 7  | –  | 3  | 7[f] | 25
Infratest dimap | 3–6 Jan 2001  | 1,000  | 54 | 28  | 7  | –  | 4  | 7[g] | 26
Infratest dimap | 26 Jun–1 Jul 2000  | 1,000  | 57 | 27  | 6  | –  | 3  | 7[h] | 30
Infratest dimap | 3–7 Jan 2000  | 1,000  | 60 | 25  | 5  | –  | 1  | 9[i] | 35
Infratest dimap | August 1999  | ?  | 60 | 24  | 5  | –  | 2  | 9[j] | 36
1998 state election | 13 Sep 1998  | –  | 52.9 | 28.7  | 5.7  | 3.7  | 1.7  | 7.3[k] | 24.2

## Election result

[edit]

Summary of the 21 September 2003 election results for the Landtag of Bavaria

Party| Votes| %| +/–| Seats| +/–
| Christian Social Union (CSU)| 6,217,864| 60.67| +7.8| 124| +1
| Social Democratic Party (SPD)| 2,012,265| 19.63| -9.1| 41| -26
| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)| 793,050| 7.74| +2.1| 15| +1
| Free Voters of Bavaria (FW)| 411,306| 4.01| +0.4| 0| ±0
| Free Democratic Party (FDP)| 263,731| 2.57| +0.9| 0| ±0
| The Republicans (REP)| 229,464| 2.24| -1.4| 0| ±0
| Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)| 200,103| 1.95| +0.2| 0| ±0
| Bavaria Party (BP)| 77,390| 0.76| ±0.0| 0| ±0
| Others| 43,562| 0.43| | 0| ±0
Total| 10,248,735| 100.00| –| 180| –

| Popular vote

|  |
CSU |

| 60.67%
SPD |

| 19.63%
B'90/GRÜNE |

| 7.74%
FW |

| 4.01%
FDP |

| 2.57%
Other |

| 5.38%

| Landtag seats

|  |
CSU |

| 68.89%
SPD |

| 22.78%
B'90/GRÜNE |

| 8.33%

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ 2.2% REP, 2.0% ÖDP, 1.2% Other
2. ^ 1.0% PDS, 0.5% REP, 0.5% ÖDP, 4.0% Other
3. ^ 2% Right-wing parties, 6% Other
4. ^ 2% Right-wing parties, 5% Other
5. ^ 3.0% PRO, 1.0% REP, 1.0% PDS, 0.5% ÖDP, 2.0% Other
6. ^ 2% Right-wing parties, 5% Other
7. ^ 2% Right-wing parties, 5% Other
8. ^ 2% Right-wing parties, 5% Other
9. ^ 3% Right-wing parties, 6% Other
10. ^ 3% Right-wing parties, 6% Other
11. ^ 3.6% REP, 1.8% ÖDP, 1.9% Other

## Sources

[edit]

* Results of 2003 Bavaria state election

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