1996 Baden-Württemberg state election

The 1996 Baden-Württemberg state election was held on 24 March 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The incumbent grand coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) under Minister-President Erwin Teufel retained its majority. However, the CDU chose not to renew the coalition, instead forming a new government with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Teufel was subsequently re-elected as Minister-President.

1996 Baden-Württemberg state election

24 March 1996
All 155 seats in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg 78 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	4,784,129 (67.6%) 2.5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Erwin Teufel Dieter Spöri Party CDU SPD Green Last election 64 seats, 39.6% 46 seats, 29.4% 13 seats, 9.5% Seats won 69 39 19 Seat change 5 7 6 Popular vote 1,974,619 1,199,123 580,801 Percentage 41.3% 25.1% 12.1% Swing 1.7% 4.3% 2.6%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Walter Döring Rolf Schlierer Party FDP REP Last election 8 seats, 5.9% 15 seats, 10.9% Seats won 14 14 Seat change 6 1 Popular vote 458,478 437,228 Percentage 9.6% 9.1% Swing 3.7% 1.8%
Minister-President before election Erwin Teufel CDU Elected Minister-President Erwin Teufel CDU

The Republicans unexpectedly retained their seats with a small swing against them, despite polling indicating they would fall out of the Landtag.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Baden-Württemberg.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1992 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Erwin Teufel	39.6%	64 / 146
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Dieter Spöri	29.4%	46 / 146
	REP	The Republicans Die Republikaner	German nationalism	Rolf Schlierer	10.9%	15 / 146
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		9.5%	13 / 146
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Walter Döring	5.9%	8 / 146

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	REP	Grüne	FDP	Others	Lead
1996 state election	24 Mar 1996	–	41.3	25.1	9.1	12.1	9.6	2.8	16.2
Infratest Burke	4–15 Mar 1996	1,508	42	30.5	4.5	14	6	3	11.5
Infratest Burke	1–8 Feb 1996	1,002	45	27	4	14	6	4	18
Infratest Burke	4–14 Jan 1996	1,003	43	26	4	17	6	4	17
Infratest Burke	9–17 Nov 1995	1,005	43	26	3	18	4	6	17
1992 state election	5 Apr 1992	–	39.6	29.4	10.9	9.5	5.9	4.8	10.2

Results

Summary of the 24 March 1996 election results for the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	1,974,619	41.3	1.7	69	5	44.5
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1,199,123	25.1	4.3	39	7	25.2
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	580,801	12.1	2.5	19	6	12.3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	458,478	9.6	3.7	14	6	9.0
	The Republicans (REP)	437,228	9.1	1.8	14	1	9.0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	69,775	1.5	0.4	0	±0	0
	Others	64,105	1.3		0	±0	0
Total		4,784,129	100.0		155	9
Voter turnout			67.6	2.5

Popular Vote CDU   41.27% SPD   25.06% B'90/GRÜNE   12.14% FDP   9.58% REP   9.14% Other   2.80%

Landtag seats CDU   44.52% SPD   25.16% B'90/GRÜNE   12.26% FDP   9.03% REP   9.03%

Sources

• Ergebnisse der Landtagswahlen in Baden-Württemberg 1996