1983 Hessian state election

1983 Hessian state election

25 September 1983
All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	3,404,656 (83.5% 2.8pp)
First party Second party   Candidate Holger Börner Walter Wallmann Party SPD CDU Last election 49 seats, 42.8% 52 seats, 45.6% Seats won 51 44 Seat change 2 8 Popular vote 1,559,725 1,329,292 Percentage 46.2% 39.4% Swing 3.4pp 6.2pp   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Ekkehard Gries Dirk Treber & Gertrud Schilling Party FDP Greens Last election 0 seats, 3.1% 9 seats, 8.0% Seats won 8 7 Seat change 8 2 Popular vote 256,801 200,415 Percentage 7.6% 5.9% Swing 4.5pp 2.1pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election Second Börner cabinet SPD Government after election Third Börner cabinet SPD

The 1983 Hessian state election was held on 25 September 1983 to elect the 11th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a caretaker cabinet of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Holger Börner. The election was called after the Landtag's failure to elect a government after the 1982 election.

The result was a victory for the SPD, who clearly overtook the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to become the largest party, though still short of a majority. Despite pledging during the campaign not to work with the Greens, Börner negotiated a confidence agreement with the party and was re-elected as Minister-President in June 1984 with their support. This SPD minority government lasted until October 1985, when they formed a coalition with the Greens, the first such coalition in Germany.

Electoral system

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

Main article: 1982 Hessian state election

The previous election, held on 26 September 1982, delivered an inconclusive result. Though the CDU and SPD remained first and second, respectively, with only slight losses, the FDP fell to 3% and lost their seats in the Landtag for the first time. At the same time, the new ecologist Green party entered with 8% and held the balance of power. The CDU offered to form a grand coalition, but Minister-President Börner refused and decided to continue his cabinet as a minority government, despite being the second largest party with no supporting partners. When the government's budget was defeated, Börner was forced to call early elections just a year after the last.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 10th Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	1982 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Walter Wallmann	45.6%	52 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Holger Börner	42.8%	49 / 110
	GRÜNE	The Greens Die Grünen	Green politics	Dirk Treber & Gertrud Schilling	8.0%	9 / 110

Election result

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+/-
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1,559,725	46.23	3.41	42	9	51	2
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	1,329,292	39.40	6.22	13	31	44	8
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	256,802	7.61	4.53	0	8	8	8
	The Greens (GRÜNE)	200,415	5.94	2.09	0	7	7	2
	Liberal Democrats (LD)	13,553	0.40	New	0	0	0	New
	German Communist Party (DKP)	8,697	0.26	0.11	0	0	0	0
	Democratic Socialists (DS)	3,221	0.10	New	0	0	0	New
	European Labour Party (EAP)	1,224	0.04	0.03	0	0	0	0
	Foreigner Repatriation Action (AAR)	890	0.03	New	0	0	0	New
	Federation of Socialist Workers (BSA)	35	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
Total		3,373,853	100.00		55	55	110	0
Invalid		30,803	0.90
Turnout		3,404,656	83.54	2.83
Registered voters		4,075,611

External links

• "Final Results for the Landtag election of 25 September 1983" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 29 September 1983. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
• "Elections to the Hessian Landtag, September 25, 1983". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2023.