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2015 Bremen state election
All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen; 42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,168,352 (50.2%); 5.3%
Government before election; Third Böhrnsen senate; SPD–Green	Government after election ; Sieling senate; SPD–Green

The 2015 Bremen state election was held on 10 May 2015 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven.^[1] The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens retained its majority. However, Mayor and SPD leader Jens Böhrnsen resigned due to his party's poor performance, which was significantly below expectations. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Carsten Sieling.^[2]

Analysts expressed surprise about the low turnout (just 50.1%), the lowest since 1945 in a west German state, and concern about a particularly low turnout in impoverished areas, which was seen as an indication of disillusionment with politics in these demographics.^[3]

Background

Following the election in 2011, the Social Democrats and Greens continued their coalition government from the previous legislative period. The composition changed several times since the last election following the death of Renate Möbius, later Martin Korol took her place in the SPD caucus. He soon after left the party and sat as an independent before joining the Citizens in Rage. For the CDU, Oğuzhan Yazıcı replaced Elisabeth Motschmann when she was elected to the Bundestag. There were personnel changes in the caucus of Alliance '90/The Greens as well.

Electoral system

Each voter may distribute five votes among party lists or candidates within them (cumulative voting and panachage).^[4] The state of Bremen consists of two cities, Bremen and Bremerhaven. Of the 83 members of the state legislature, 68 are elected in Bremen, 15 in Bremerhaven. To be allocated seats from either Bremen or Bremerhaven a party must receive 5% of the vote or more in the respective city. In Bremen (but not in Bremerhaven), the same ballot is also used to determine the composition of the city legislature, also consisting of 68 members who in most cases are the same as Bremen's representatives in the state legislature. Differences may, however, arise since EU citizens resident in Bremen who are not also German citizens may vote in city legislature elections but not in state legislature elections.^[5] In the 2003 elections, the 2007 elections, and the current election, this led to one or more of Bremen's seats being allocated to different candidates in the state legislature and in the city legislature.

The state government (Senate), the head of state government (President of the Senate), and the heads of the city governments (Mayor) are later elected by the respective legislatures.

All Germans who have lived in Bremen for at least three months prior to the election are eligible to vote. As of the last election, the voting age is 16, the eligibility age 18. Non-German EU citizens resident in Bremen may vote in city legislature elections but not in state legislature elections which for German citizens in Bremen (but not in Bremerhaven) happen with the same votes on the same ballot.

Parties

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

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2011 result
Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Jens Böhrnsen	38.6%	36 / 83
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Elisabeth Motschmann	20.4%	20 / 83
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Karoline Linnert	22.5%	21 / 83
	Linke	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism	Kristina Vogt	5.6%	5 / 83
	BiW	Citizens in Rage Bürger in Wut	Right-wing populism	Jan Timke	3.7%	1 / 83

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	Grüne	CDU	Linke	BIW	FDP	AfD	Others	Lead
Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size								Others	Lead
2015 state election	10 May 2015	–	32.8	15.1	22.4	9.5	3.2	6.6	5.5	4.8	10.4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	6–7 May 2015	1,000	36.0	15.0	23.0	8.5	3.0	6.5	5.0	3.0	13
Infratest dimap	28–29 Apr 2015	1,001	37	16	22	8	3	6	5	3	15
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	27–29 Apr 2015	1,013	37	15	23	9	3	5	5	3	14
INSA	16–20 Apr 2015	500	37	12	25	9	3	6	5	3	12
Infratest dimap	10–14 Apr 2015	1,001	38	16	23	6	3	5	5	4	15
2014 European election	25 May 2014	–	34.4	17.6	22.4	9.6	–	3.3	5.8	6.9	12.0
FGW Telefonfeld	31 Mar–9 Apr 2014	1,002	40	16	28	8	–	–	3	5	12
Emnid	15–25 Jan 2014	1,401	37	17	21	9	–	3	5	8	16
2013 federal election	22 Sep 2013	–	35.6	12.1	29.3	10.1	–	3.4	3.7	5.8	6.3
2011 state election	22 May 2011	–	38.6	22.5	20.4	5.6	3.7	2.4	–	6.9	16.1

Election result

Summary of the 10 May 2015 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Bremen	Bremerhaven	Total seats	+/-
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	383,509	32.82	-5.8	24	6	30	-7
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	261,929	22.42	+2.0	16	4	20	±0
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	176,807	15.13	-7.4	12	2	14	-7
	The Left (Linke)	111,485	9.54	+3.9	7	1	8	+3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	76,754	6.57	+4.2	5	1	6	+6
	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	64,368	5.51	New	4	0	4	New
	Citizens in Rage (BiW)	37,759	3.23	-0.5	0	1	1	±0
	Die PARTEI (PARTEI)	21,888	1.87	+1.9	0	0	0	±0
	Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)	17,773	1.52	-0.4	0	0	0	±0
	Human Environment Animal Protection Party	13,910	1.19	+1.2	0	0	0	±0
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	2,170	0.19	-1.4	0	0	0	±0
Total		1,168,352	100.00	–	68	15	83	0

Popular Vote

SPD			32.83%
CDU			22.42%
B'90/GRÜNE			15.13%
DIE LINKE			9.54%
FDP			6.57%
AfD			5.51%
BiW			3.23%
Other			4.77%

Bürgerschaft seats

SPD			36.14%
CDU			24.10%
B'90/GRÜNE			16.87%
DIE LINKE			9.64%
FDP			7.23%
AfD			4.82%
BiW			1.20%

References

^ "Wahlen". Bremen. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
^ "Bremen Mayor Jens Böhrnsen declines returning to chief minister's post". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
^ "Ärmere gehen seltener zur Wahl" [The poor participate less often in elections] (in German). Nordwest Zeitung. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
^ "BremWahlG" [Bremen Electoral Law] (in German). Gesetzesportal. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
^ "Bremer Wahl-ABC" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Bremen (Statistical Office of the State of Bremen). Retrieved May 18, 2015.