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1990 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

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1990 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

← 1985 13 May 1990 1995 →

All 237 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, including 36 overhang and leveling seats
119 seats needed for a majority
Turnout9,353,712 (71.8% Decrease 0.5pp)
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Johannes Rau Norbert Blüm
Party SPD CDU
Last election 125 seats, 52.1% 88 seats, 36.5%
Seats won 122 89
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 1
Popular vote 4,644,431 3,409,953
Percentage 50.0% 36.7%
Swing Decrease 2.2pp Increase 0.2pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Candidate Achim Rohde Bärbel Höhn
Party FDP Greens
Last election 14 seats, 6.0% 0 seats, 4.6%
Seats won 14 12
Seat change Steady 0 Increase 12
Popular vote 535,656 469,098
Percentage 5.8% 5.0%
Swing Decrease 0.2pp Increase 0.5pp

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Third Rau cabinet
SPD

Government after election

Fourth Rau cabinet
SPD

The 1990 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 13 May 1990 to elect the 11th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), led by Minister-President Johannes Rau.

The SPD successfully retained their parliamentary majority with minor losses, taking slightly under 50% of the vote. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) failed to recover from their 1985 losses, recording 36.7%; the Free Democratic Party (FDP) likewise remained essentially level on 6% and 14 seats. The Greens narrowly passed the 5% electoral threshold and entered the Landtag for the first time with 12 seats. The margin of the SPD's victory saw them win 121 of the 151 single-member constituencies, resulting in overhang and leveling seats boosting the Landtag to 237 members. In February 1992, it gained two more due to an election review which reversed the result in the Märkischer Kreis IV constituency, resulting in an additional overhang seat for the SPD and a new leveling seat for the CDU.[1]

Electoral system

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The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 151 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and fifty then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. The minimum size of the Landtag was 201 members, but if overhang seats were present, proportional leveling seats were added to ensure proportionality. 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 12 May 1985, the SPD won a landslide victory, expanding their majority in the Landtag with 52.1% of votes while the CDU fell to 36.5% – a record high and low, respectively. The FDP returned to the Landtag with 6% and took 14 seats. Due to the magnitude of the SPD's victory, they took 125 of the 151 constituencies, necessitating the addition of leveling seats which boosted the Landtag to 227 members. The SPD again formed government alone and Johannes Rau continued as Minister-President.

Parties

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The table below lists parties represented in the 10th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Name Ideology Lead
candidate
1985 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Johannes Rau 52.1%
125 / 227
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Norbert Blüm 36.5%
88 / 227
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism Achim Rohde 6.0%
14 / 227

Results

[edit]
12
122
14
89
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+/–
Social Democratic Party (SPD)4,644,43149.98–2.161211122–3
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)3,409,95336.70+0.16305989+1
Free Democratic Party (FDP)535,6565.76–0.2001414±0
The Greens (GRÜNE)469,0985.05+0.5001212+12
The Republicans (REP)171,8671.85New000New
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)46,6500.50New000New
National Democratic Party (NPD)3,3700.04New000New
German Communist Party (DKP)2,3760.03New000New
Patriots for Germany (Patrioten)1,7420.02New000New
Christian Centre (CM)1,1610.01New000New
Centre Party (ZENTRUM)7170.01–0.03000±0
Family Party of Germany (FAMILIE)2100.00±0.00000±0
Social Reform Party (SRP)2020.00New000New
Free German Workers' Party (FAP)560.00–0.01000±0
Independents4,4850.05+0.0400±0
Total9,291,974100.0015186237+10
Valid votes9,291,97499.34
Invalid/blank votes61,7380.66
Total votes9,353,712100.00
Registered voters/turnout13,036,00471.75
Source: [1] [2]
[edit]
  • "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.

References

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  1. ^ "Landtagswahl NRW 1990". Wahlrecht.de (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2023.