1982 Hessian state election

The 1982 Hessian state election was held on 26 September 1982 to elect the 10th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Holger Börner.

1982 Hessian state election

← 1978 26 September 1982 1983 →

All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout3,498,407 (86.4% Decrease 1.3pp)
  First party Second party
 
KAS-Dregger, Alfred-Bild-14626-1.jpg
-Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F055060-0007A, Köln, SPD-Parteitag, Börner-2.jpg
Candidate Alfred Dregger Holger Börner
Party CDU SPD
Last election 53 seats, 46.0% 50 seats, 44.3%
Seats won 52 49
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 1,580,989 1,483,930
Percentage 45.6% 42.8%
Swing Decrease 0.4pp Decrease 1.5pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049586-0009, Frankfurt, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry (cropped).jpg
Candidate Dirk Treber & Gertrud Schilling Ekkehard Gries
Party Greens FDP
Last election 0 seats, 2.0%[a] 7 seats, 6.6%
Seats won 9 0
Seat change Increase 9 Decrease 7
Popular vote 278,450 106,901
Percentage 8.0% 4.1%
Swing Increase 6.0pp Decrease 3.5pp

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Second Börner cabinet
SPDFDP

Government after election

Second Börner cabinet
SPD

The election produced an inconclusive result, with neither the SPD nor the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) achieving a majority. The FDP, who during the campaign voted to end cooperation with the SPD and opt for a coalition with the CDU post-election, fell below the 5% electoral threshold and lost their representation in the Landtag for the first time. Balance of power was held by the new Green party, who won 8%. As neither party was willing to work with the Greens, Holger Börner attempted to continue in office as a minority government; however, his budget was defeated in the Landtag and new elections were called just a year later in 1983.

Electoral system

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The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

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In the previous election held on 8 October 1978, the incumbent SPD–FDP coalition retained its majority and was renewed for a third term. The CDU remained the largest party, though there was a small swing from them to the SPD. Two small green parties ran for the first time and finished with about 1% each, becoming the largest non-parliamentary parties in the state. They federated into the new national party The Greens in 1980, which ran for the first time in 1982.

Parties

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The table below lists parties represented in the 9th Landtag of Hesse.

Name Ideology Lead
candidate
1978 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Alfred Dregger 46.0%
53 / 110
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Holger Börner 44.2%
50 / 110
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism Ekkehard Gries 6.6%
7 / 110

Results

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PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+–
Christian Democratic Union1,580,98945.62–0.40331952–1
Social Democratic Party1,483,93042.82+1.47222749–1
The Greens278,4508.03+6.03099+9
Free Democratic Party106,9013.08–3.49000–7
German Communist Party12,6250.36–0.060000
European Workers' Party2,3770.07+0.050000
Independents2210.01+0.01000
Total3,465,493100.0055551100
Valid votes3,465,49399.06
Invalid/blank votes32,9140.94
Total votes3,498,407100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,050,66186.37
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  • "Final Results for the Landtag election of 26 September 1982" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 8 October 1982. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  • "Premiere of the Greens and stalemate between the SPD and CDU after the election to the 10th Hessian state parliament, September 26, 1982". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 15 September 2023.

Notes

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  1. ^ Aggregate of Green List Hesse (1.1%) and Green Action Future (0.9%).