2021 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election

The Landtag is elected for a period of five years in accordance with Article 27 of the Constitution of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. An election may be held between 58 and 61 months after the first sitting of the previous Landtag. As the 7th Landtag first sat on 4 October 2016, the election must be held between 4 August to 4 November 2021. It must take place on a Sunday. On 12 January 2021, the state government designated 26 September as the date of the election, coinciding with the federal parliamentary election. ==Electoral system==

The Landtag is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 36 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 35 members are then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. Voters have two votes: the "first vote" for candidates in single-member constituencies, and the "second vote" for party lists, which are used to fill the proportional seats. The minimum size of the Landtag is 71 members, but if overhang seats are present, proportional leveling seats will be added to ensure proportionality. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are excluded from the Landtag. ==Background==

In the previous election held on 4 September 2016, the SPD remained the largest party with 30.6% of the vote, a loss of 5.0 percentage points. Alternative for Germany (AfD) contested their first election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, placing second with 20.8%. The CDU won 19.0%, a loss of 4.0 points, while The Left won 13.2%, a loss of 5.2 points. The SPD–CDU coalition which had governed since 2006 retained its majority and was renewed for a third term. ==Parties==

The table below lists parties currently represented in the 7th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. ==Campaign==

Lead candidates On 7 August 2020, the state CDU elected Michael Sack, district administrator of Vorpommern-Greifswald, as its new leader. He was also selected as the party's lead candidate for the 2021 state election. On 28 January 2021, parliamentary group leader Simone Oldenburg was nominated as lead candidate for The Left. ==Opinion polling==

File:Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Zweitstimmen SPD 2021.svg|SPD vote File:Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Zweitstimmen AfD 2021.svg|AfD vote File:Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Zweitstimmen CDU 2021.svg|CDU vote File:Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Zweitstimmen Linke 2021.svg|Linke vote File:Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Zweitstimmen Grüne 2021.svg|Green vote File:Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Zweitstimmen FDP 2021.svg|FDP vote ==Aftermath==

Minister-President Schwesig claimed victory after the release of exit polls and spoke of "a wonderful evening for our state and the SPD." CDU leader Michael Sack and general-secretary Wolfgang Waldmüller both described the party's result as a "catastrophe". Despite the AfD's losses, state chairman Leif Erik-Holm voiced his satisfaction with the result, particularly the decline of the CDU. Simone Oldenburg, the lead candidate for The Left, stated that the result was a mandate for a shift to the left in the government. Harald Terpe of the Greens described their performance as "promising" but said that many of the party's key issues are still not a high priority for the state's voters. A coalition agreement between the SPD and The Left was agreed to on 5 November and signed on 13 November. Schwesig was re-elected as Minister-President on 15 November with 41 votes in favour, 35 against, and three abstentions. In the new cabinet, the SPD has six ministers and the Left has two: Simone Oldenburg as education minister and Jaqueline Bernhardt as justice minister. ==References==