# 2002 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election

The 2002 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 22 September 2002 to elect the members of the 4th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It was held on the same day as the 2002 federal election. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) led by Minister-President Harald Ringstorff retained its majority and continued in office.

## Campaign and issues

The election was the first time that a "red-red" SPD–PDS government faced an election. It was held at the same day as the 2002 federal election, and the campaigns of the state parties were highly influenced by the issues in the federal politics.

## Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 3rd Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 1998 result | 1998 result |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Harald Ringstorff | 34.3% | 27 / 71 |
| | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands | Christian democracy | Eckhardt Rehberg | 30.2% | 24 / 71 |
| | PDS | Party of Democratic Socialism Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus | Democratic socialism | Angelika Gramkow | 24.4% | 20 / 71 |

## Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | SPD | CDU | PDS | Grüne | FDP | Others | Lead |
| 2002 state election | 22 Sep 2002 | – | 40.6 | 31.4 | 16.4 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 9.2 |
| Emnid | 16 Sep 2002 | ? | 37 | 33 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Infratest dimap | 12 Sep 2002 | 1,000 | 40 | 33 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Emnid | 9 Sep 2002 | ? | 37 | 34 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 4 Sep 2002 | ? | 37 | 35 | 18.5 | 2 | 4.5 | 3 | 2 |
| Emnid | 2 Sep 2002 | 750 | 37 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 1 Sep 2002 | 1,000 | 38 | 33 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Infratest dimap | 28 Aug 2002 | 1,000 | 36 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Emnid | 26 Aug 2002 | ? | 35 | 38 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Emnid | 19 Aug 2002 | ? | 32 | 38 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| Emnid | 12 Aug 2002 | ? | 33 | 39 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| Emnid | 2 Aug 2002 | 750 | 32 | 39 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Infratest dimap | 3 Jul 2002 | ? | 35 | 36 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Emnid | 22 Jun 2002 | ? | 30 | 38 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| Emnid | 23 May 2002 | ? | 30 | 41 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 |
| Emnid | 29 Jan 2002 | ? | 32 | 39 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Infratest dimap | 24 Jan 2002 | ? | 29 | 37 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Emnid | 3 Nov 2001 | ? | 32 | 32 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Tie |
| Emnid | 16 May 2001 | ? | 32 | 35 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 18–24 Sep 2000 | 1,000 | 32 | 36 | 24 | – | – | ? | 4 |
| Emnid | 13–18 Sep 1999 | 750 | 26 | 42 | 24 | – | – | ? | 16 |
| Infratest dimap | 11–21 Feb 1999 | 912 | 38 | 37 | 17 | – | – | 8 | 1 |
| 1998 state election | 27 Sep 1998 | – | 34.3 | 30.2 | 24.4 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 6.8 | 4.1 |

## Election result

Summary of the 22 September 2002 election results for the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % |
| | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 394,118 | 40.6 | 6.3 | 33 | 6 | 46.5 |
| | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 304,125 | 31.4 | 1.2 | 25 | 1 | 35.2 |
| | Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) | 159,065 | 16.4 | 8.0 | 13 | 7 | 18.3 |
| | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 45,676 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 25,402 | 2.6 | 0.1 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Schill party) | 16,483 | 1.7 | New | 0 | New | 0 |
| | Others | 25,162 | 2.6 | | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 970,031 | 100.0 | | 71 | ±0 | |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | | 70.6 | 8.6 | | | |
Popular Vote
SPD
40.63%
CDU
31.35%
PDS
16.40%
FDP
4.71%
GRÜNE
2.62%
Other
4.29% :
Bürgerschaft seats
SPD
46.48%
CDU
35.21%
PDS
18.31% :

## Sources

* The Federal Returning Officer