2023 Berlin state election
The 2023 Berlin repeat state election was held on 12 February 2023 to once again elect the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin as the 2021 Berlin state election held on 26 September 2021 was declared invalid due to irregularities. Also affected were parts of the 2021 German federal election in Berlin, these were repeated on 11 February 2024.
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All 159 seats in the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, including 29 overhang and leveling seats 80 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 1,529,558 (62.9%) 12.4pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results for single-member constituencies. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On 16 November 2022, the Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin declared the state election results invalid due to numerous irregularities and ordered a repeat election within 90 days. A decision by the Federal Constitutional Court regarding five constitutional complaints is still pending but would not be decided until after the repeat election. The improperly elected incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Greens, and The Left led by Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey. Alongside the Abgeordnetenhaus election, the boroughs of Berlin council results were also ruled invalid and repeat elections ordered for the same date.
With 28% of votes, the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) grew by over ten percentage points and emerged as the largest party by a wide margin, the first time it had done so since the 1999 Berlin state election. All three governing parties declined; the SPD suffered its worst result in over a century with 18.4%, and only barely remained ahead of the Greens by a margin of 53 votes. The Left also slipped to 12%. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) recorded a small upswing to 9%, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) fell to 4.6% and lost all their seats. Overall, the incumbent government retained a reduced majority. The CDU claimed a mandate to govern given its first-place result, while mayor Giffey committed to remaining in government. The Left called for a renewal of the outgoing coalition. After various talks between parties, the SPD and CDU voted at the beginning of March to begin negotiations for a grand coalition. CDU leader Kai Wegner was approved as mayor on 27 April after three rounds of voting.