# 2006 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election

The 2006 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 17 September 2006 to elect the members of the 5th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) led by Minister-President Harald Ringstorff was returned with a reduced majority. However, the SPD chose not to continue the coalition. They instead formed a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Ringstorff was subsequently re-elected as Minister-President.
The Far Right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) won 6 seats.

## Issues and campaign

The economy was a major issue throughout the campaign. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's unemployment rate was among the worst in Germany. The possibility of the far-right NPD entering the parliament also became an issue late in the campaign, with all established parties condemning it.

## Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 4th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2002 result | 2002 result |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Harald Ringstorff | 20.6% | 33 / 71 |
| | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands | Christian democracy | Jürgen Seidel | 31.4% | 25 / 71 |
| | PDS | Party of Democratic Socialism Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus | Democratic socialism | Wolfgang Methling | 16.4% | 13 / 71 |

## Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | SPD | CDU | PDS | FDP | Grüne | NPD | Others | Lead |
| 2006 state election | 17 Sep 2006 | – | 30.2 | 28.8 | 16.8 | 9.6 | 3.4 | 7.3 | 3.9 | 1.4 |
| Emnid | 5–7 Sep 2006 | 500 | 29 | 31 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 4–7 Sep 2006 | 1,116 | 29 | 33 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| Infratest dimap | 4–6 Sep 2006 | 1,000 | 31 | 30 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Infratest dimap | 27–30 Aug 2006 | 1,000 | 30 | 31 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Emnid | 22–24 Aug 2006 | 500 | 28 | 31 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 20–23 Aug 2006 | 1,000 | 31 | 30 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Forsa | 16–18 Aug 2006 | 1,003 | 28 | 30 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Emnid | 7–10 Aug 2006 | 500 | 29 | 31 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Infratest dimap | 31 Jul–2 Aug 2006 | 1,000 | 29 | 33 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Emnid | 5–12 Jul 2006 | 1,001 | 31 | 33 | 21 | 7 | 4 | – | 4 | 2 |
| Infratest dimap | 10–11 Jul 2006 | 1,000 | 31 | 32 | 21 | 7 | 4 | – | 5 | 1 |
| Emnid | 19–30 May 2006 | 1,009 | 30 | 31 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Infratest | November 2005 | 1,000 | 34 | 29 | 24 | 5 | 4 | – | 4 | 5 |
| Emnid | 5–8 Sep 2005 | 500 | 26 | 35 | 25 | 5 | 4 | – | 5 | 9 |
| Emnid | 22–25 Aug 2005 | 500 | 22 | 32 | 31 | 6 | 5 | – | 4 | 1 |
| Emnid | 8–11 Aug 2005 | 500 | 20 | 31 | 34 | 6 | 6 | – | 3 | 3 |
| Emnid | 25 Sep 2004 | 750 | 28 | 31 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 1–6 Jun 2004 | 1,003 | 29 | 44 | 15 | 5 | 5 | – | 2 | 15 |
| Emnid | 8 May 2004 | 752 | 28 | 39 | 17 | 6 | 7 | – | 3 | 11 |
| Emnid | 7 Nov 2003 | 750 | 26 | 41 | 19 | 5 | 6 | – | 3 | 15 |
| Emnid | 21 Jun 2003 | 750 | 35 | 37 | 14 | 5 | 5 | – | 4 | 2 |
| Emnid | 1 Mar 2003 | ? | 33 | 40 | 14 | 5 | 4 | – | 4 | 7 |
| 2002 state election | 22 Sep 2002 | – | 40.6 | 31.4 | 16.4 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 9.2 |

## Election result

Summary of the 17 September 2006 election results for the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % |
| | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 247,312 | 30.2 | 10.4 | 23 | 10 | 32.4 |
| | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 235,530 | 28.8 | 2.6 | 22 | 3 | 31.0 |
| | Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) | 137,253 | 16.8 | 0.4 | 13 | 0 | 18.3 |
| | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 78,440 | 9.6 | 4.9 | 7 | 7 | 9.9 |
| | National Democratic Party (NPD) | 59,845 | 7.3 | 6.5 | 6 | 6 | 8.5 |
| | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 27,642 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Family Party (Familie) | 9,463 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Others | 22,756 | 2.8 | | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 818,061 | 100.0 | | 71 | ±0 | |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | | 59.2 | 11.4 | | | |
Popular Vote
SPD
30.23%
CDU
28.77%
PDS
16.78%
FDP
9.59%
NPD
7.32%
GRÜNE
3.38%
Other
3.94% :
Bürgerschaft seats
SPD
32.39%
CDU
30.99%
PDS
18.31%
FDP
9.86%
NPD
8.45% :