2002 German federal election

2002 German federal election

22 September 2002 (2002-09-22)
All 603 seats in the Bundestag 302 seats needed for a majority
Registered	61,432,868 1.1%
Turnout	48,582,761 (79.1%) 3.1pp
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Gerhard Schröder Edmund Stoiber Joschka Fischer Party SPD CDU/CSU Greens Last election 40.9%, 298 seats 35.1%, 245 seats 6.7%, 47 seats Seats won 251 248 55 Seat change 47 3 8 Popular vote 18,488,668 18,482,641 4,110,355 Percentage 38.5% 38.5% 8.6% Swing 2.4pp 3.4pp 1.9pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Candidate Guido Westerwelle Gabi Zimmer Party FDP PDS Last election 6.2%, 43 seats 5.1%, 36 seats Seats won 47 2 Seat change 4 34 Popular vote 3,538,815 1,916,702 Percentage 7.4% 4.0% Swing 1.2pp 1.1pp
The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
Government before election First Schröder cabinet SPD–Green Government after election Second Schröder cabinet SPD–Greens

Federal elections were held in Germany on 22 September 2002 to elect the members of the 15th Bundestag. Incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's centre-left "red-green" governing coalition retained a narrow majority, and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) retained their status as the largest party in the Bundestag by three seats.

Issues and campaign

Several issues dominated the campaign, with the opposition CDU/CSU attacking the government's performance on the economy which fell back into recession due to the Telecoms crash and the introduction of the euro, as well as campaigning on family values and against taxes (particularly on fuel).

In the run up to the election, the CSU/CDU held a huge lead in the opinion polls and Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Edmund Stoiber famously remarked that "... this election is like a football match where it's the second half and my team is ahead by 2–0."

However, event soon overtook Stoiber and the CDU/CSU campaign. The SPD and the Greens were helped by broad support for its opposition to an invasion of Iraq, continued media attention on the CDU funding scandal and by Gerhard Schröder's personal popularity relative to the opposition's candidate for chancellor, Stoiber.

The SPD was also boosted by Schröder's swift response to the August floods in eastern Germany, as compared to Stoiber, who was on vacation and responded late to the events.

With Guido Westerwelle, leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the FDP presented a chancellor candidate for the first time, usually a title reserved for the main election leaders of the SPD and CDU/CSU. This was met with general derision and Westerwelle was excluded from the chancellor television debate, the first one, against which he unsuccessfully sued.

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 14th Bundestag:

Name				Ideology	Lead candidate	1998 result
						Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD		Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Gerhard Schröder	40.9%	298 / 669
	CDU/CSU	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Edmund Stoiber	35.1%	245 / 669
		CSU	Christian Social Union in Bavaria Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern			6.2%
	Grüne		Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Joschka Fischer	6.7%	47 / 669
	FDP		Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Guido Westerwelle	6.2%	43 / 669
	PDS		Party of Democratic Socialism Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus	Socialism	Gabi Zimmer	5.1%	36 / 669

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	Union	Grüne	FDP	PDS	Others	Lead
2002 federal election	22 Sep 2002	–	38.5	38.5	8.6	7.4	4.0	3.0	0.01
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	9–12 Sep 2002	1,326	40.0	37.0	7.0	7.5	4.5	4.0	3.0
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	2–5 Sep 2002	1,476	38	38	7	8	4	5	Tie
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	26–29 Aug 2002	1,254	38	39	7	8	4	4	1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	19–22 Aug 2002	1,292	38	39	7	9	4	3	1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	12–15 Aug 2002	1,068	36	41	7	9	4	3	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	5–8 Aug 2002	1,106	36	41	6	9	5	3	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	22–25 Jul 2002	1,262	36	41	6	9	5	3	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	8–11 Jul 2002	1,031	37	40	6	8	5	4	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	24–27 Jun 2002	1,281	36	39	7	9	5	4	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	10–13 Jun 2002	1,018	35	39	7	10	5	4	4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	24–29 May 2002	1,312	35	40	6	9	5	5	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	6–9 May 2002	1,014	36	41	6	8	5	4	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	22–25 Apr 2002	1,287	36	41	6	8	5	4	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	8–11 Apr 2002	1,000	36	41	6	8	5	4	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	18–21 Mar 2002	1,274	36	40	6	8	6	4	4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	4–7 Mar 2002	1,050	37	41	5	8	5	4	4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	18–21 Feb 2002	1,191	38	40	5	8	5	4	2
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	4–7 Feb 2002	1,027	39	40	4	8	6	3	1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	14–17 Jan 2002	1,306	38	40	5	7	6	4	2
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	8–10 Jan 2002	1,038	39	39	5	7	6	4	Tie
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	10–13 Dec 2001	1,254	41	37	5	7	6	4	4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	12–14 Nov 2001	1,098	41	38	5	7	6	3	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	8–11 Oct 2001	1,250	41	38	5	7	5	4	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	12–13 Sep 2001	1,031	40	38	5	7	5	5	2
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	20–23 Aug 2001	1,245	39	37	6	8	5	5	2
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	16–19 Jul 2001	1,224	41	35	5	9	5	5	6
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	18–21 Jun 2001	1,237	41	36	5	8	5	5	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	14–17 May 2001	1,266	41	36	5	8	5	5	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	2–5 Apr 2001	1,264	41	38	6	6	5	4	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	12–15 Mar 2001	1,264	42	37	6	6	5	4	5
Allensbach	14 Mar 2001	–	39.3	32.4	7.5	10.0	6.2	4.6	7.1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	12–15 Feb 2001	1,207	43	36	5	7	5	4	7
Allensbach	14 Feb 2001	–	38.7	32.8	8.0	9.6	6.1	4.8	5.9
Allensbach	24 Jan 2001	–	39.1	33.1	7.3	9.7	6.3	4.5	6.0
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	15–18 Jan 2001	1,276	41	38	6	6	5	4	3
Allensbach	20 Dec 2000	–	38.1	35.2	7.4	9.6	6.0	3.7	2.9
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	11–14 Dec 2000	1,271	41	38	6	6	5	4	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	13–16 Nov 2000	1,259	41	38	6	6	5	4	3
Allensbach	15 Nov 2000	–	37.8	33.8	7.4	9.6	6.1	5.3	4.0
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	16–19 Oct 2000	1,294	41	37	6	6	5	5	4
Allensbach	18 Oct 2000	–	38.0	34.0	6.9	9.5	6.0	5.6	4.0
Allensbach	27 Sep 2000	–	39.0	33.1	7.4	9.8	6.2	4.5	5.9
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	18–21 Sep 2000	1,174	40	38	6	6	5	5	2
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	21–24 Aug 2000	1,219	42	36	6	7	5	4	6
Allensbach	16 Aug 2000	–	39.0	32.4	6.9	10.1	6.3	5.3	6.6
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	24–27 Jul 2000	1,255	40	38	5	7	5	5	2
Allensbach	19 Jul 2000	–	37.1	32.3	7.1	11.5	6.8	5.2	4.8
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	23 Jun 2000	–	38	39	6	7	5	5	1
Allensbach	14 Jun 2000	–	35.9	33.0	7.9	11.1	6.5	5.6	2.9
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	19 May 2000	–	40	37	6	7	5	5	3
Allensbach	19 Apr 2000	–	38.6	32.0	8.4	8.4	7.1	5.5	6.6
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	14 Apr 2000	–	42	36	6	6	5	5	6
Allensbach	22 Mar 2000	–	39.8	31.3	8.5	7.9	7.1	5.4	8.5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	17 Mar 2000	–	43	35	6	6	5	5	8
Allensbach	23 Feb 2000	–	40.3	31.3	8.0	7.7	6.7	6.0	9.0
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	18 Feb 2000	–	42	35	7	6	6	4	7
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	21 Jan 2000	–	39	40	6	5	6	4	1
Allensbach	19 Jan 2000	–	36.9	37.8	7.5	6.3	6.5	5.0	0.9
Infratest dimap	24 Dec 1999	–	35	43	6	5	7	4	8
Infratest dimap	18 Dec 1999	–	35	45	6	5	6	3	10
Emnid	17 Dec 1999	–	37	39	7	5	6	6	2
Forsa	16 Dec 1999	–	37	42	6	5	6	4	5
Allensbach	15 Dec 1999	–	32.3	41.6	7.5	6.4	7.1	5.1	9.3
Infratest dimap	11 Dec 1999	–	34	45	7	5	5	4	11
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	10 Dec 1999	–	36	45	5	4	6	4	9
Emnid	10 Dec 1999	–	36	40	6	5	7	7	4
Forsa	9 Dec 1999	–	34	45	6	5	6	4	11
Infratest dimap	4 Dec 1999	–	32	47	5	5	6	5	15
Emnid	3 Dec 1999	–	33	44	5	5	7	6	11
Forsa	2 Dec 1999	–	34	45	5	4	7	5	11
Infratest dimap	27 Nov 1999	–	31	48	5	4	7	5	17
Emnid	26 Nov 1999	–	32	46	5	4	7	6	14
Forsa	25 Nov 1999	–	33	47	5	4	7	4	14
Infratest dimap	20 Nov 1999	–	31	48	6	5	6	4	17
Emnid	19 Nov 1999	–	32	45	6	4	7	6	13
Forsa	18 Nov 1999	–	33	46	6	4	6	5	13
Allensbach	17 Nov 1999	–	30.4	44.7	6.9	6.9	6.8	4.3	14.3
Infratest dimap	13 Nov 1999	–	30	49	6	5	6	4	19
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	12 Nov 1999	–	33	48	5	4	6	4	15
Emnid	12 Nov 1999	–	32	45	6	4	7	6	13
Forsa	11 Nov 1999	–	32	45	5	5	7	6	13
Infratest dimap	6 Nov 1999	–	30	49	6	5	6	5	19
Emnid	5 Nov 1999	–	33	45	5	4	7	6	12
Forsa	4 Nov 1999	–	31	47	5	4	7	6	16
Infratest dimap	30 Oct 1999	–	30	49	5	5	8	3	19
Emnid	29 Oct 1999	–	33	45	5	4	7	6	12
Forsa	28 Oct 1999	–	34	44	5	4	8	5	10
Infratest dimap	23 Oct 1999	–	30	48	6	5	8	3	18
Emnid	22 Oct 1999	–	33	47	6	4	7	3	14
Forsa	21 Oct 1999	–	33	44	5	4	8	6	11
Infratest dimap	16 Oct 1999	–	31	48	6	5	7	3	17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	15 Oct 1999	–	33	47	6	4	6	4	14
Emnid	15 Oct 1999	–	32	46	5	5	6	6	14
Forsa	14 Oct 1999	–	33	43	6	4	8	6	10
Allensbach	13 Oct 1999	–	30.8	44.5	6.8	5.9	7.2	4.8	13.7
Infratest dimap	9 Oct 1999	–	31	48	6	5	7	3	17
Emnid	8 Oct 1999	–	35	44	6	4	6	5	9
Forsa	7 Oct 1999	–	34	43	6	4	7	6	9
Infratest dimap	2 Oct 1999	–	31	48	6	4	7	4	17
Emnid	1 Oct 1999	–	34	44	5	5	7	5	10
Forsa	30 Sep 1999	–	33	45	6	5	6	5	12
Infratest dimap	25 Sep 1999	–	31	48	6	5	7	3	17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	24 Sep 1999	–	34	47	5	5	5	4	13
Emnid	24 Sep 1999	–	33	45	5	5	6	6	12
Forsa	23 Sep 1999	–	32	46	6	5	6	5	14
Infratest dimap	18 Sep 1999	–	32	47	6	5	6	4	15
Emnid	17 Sep 1999	–	35	44	6	4	6	5	9
Forsa	16 Sep 1999	–	31	47	6	5	7	4	16
Allensbach	15 Sep 1999	–	32.9	42.0	7.2	6.6	7.0	4.3	9.1
Infratest dimap	11 Sep 1999	–	33	46	6	5	5	5	13
Emnid	10 Sep 1999	–	35	43	6	5	6	5	8
Forsa	9 Sep 1999	–	31	48	5	5	7	4	17
Infratest dimap	4 Sep 1999	–	32	46	7	6	5	4	14
Emnid	3 Sep 1999	–	35	43	5	6	6	5	8
Forsa	2 Sep 1999	–	33	45	7	5	6	4	12
Infratest dimap	28 Aug 1999	–	32	47	6	5	6	4	15
Emnid	27 Aug 1999	–	35	42	6	6	6	5	7
Forsa	26 Aug 1999	–	32	47	6	5	6	4	15
Infratest dimap	21 Aug 1999	–	32	47	6	5	6	4	15
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	20 Aug 1999	–	36	45	5	5	5	4	9
Emnid	20 Aug 1999	–	35	43	6	5	6	5	8
Forsa	19 Aug 1999	–	34	45	5	5	7	4	11
Allensbach	18 Aug 1999	–	32.6	42.2	7.4	6.6	6.0	5.2	9.6
Infratest dimap	14 Aug 1999	–	33	46	6	5	6	4	13
Emnid	13 Aug 1999	–	35	43	6	5	6	5	8
Forsa	12 Aug 1999	–	33	46	5	5	6	5	13
Infratest dimap	7 Aug 1999	–	33	46	6	5	6	4	13
Emnid	6 Aug 1999	–	35	43	6	5	5	6	8
Forsa	5 Aug 1999	–	34	44	6	6	6	4	10
Infratest dimap	31 Jul 1999	–	33	45	7	5	6	4	12
Emnid	30 Jul 1999	–	36	43	6	6	5	4	7
Forsa	29 Jul 1999	–	33	46	5	6	6	5	13
Infratest dimap	24 Jul 1999	–	33	45	7	5	6	4	12
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	23 Jul 1999	–	38	44	5	5	5	3	6
Emnid	23 Jul 1999	–	36	42	6	4	6	6	6
Forsa	22 Jul 1999	–	32	46	5	6	6	5	14
Allensbach	21 Jul 1999	–	32.6	43.3	6.7	7.0	5.9	4.5	10.7
Infratest dimap	17 Jul 1999	–	34	44	6	5	6	5	10
Emnid	16 Jul 1999	–	37	43	5	5	6	4	6
Forsa	15 Jul 1999	–	32	45	5	7	6	5	13
Infratest dimap	10 Jul 1999	–	35	44	6	5	5	5	9
Emnid	9 Jul 1999	–	36	42	5	4	6	6	6
Forsa	8 Jul 1999	–	33	45	6	5	6	5	12
Infratest dimap	3 Jul 1999	–	33	45	6	5	6	5	12
Emnid	2 Jul 1999	–	36	43	5	5	5	6	7
Forsa	1 Jul 1999	–	33	46	6	5	5	5	13
Infratest dimap	26 Jun 1999	–	33	45	6	5	6	5	12
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	25 Jun 1999	–	38	44	5	5	4	4	6
Emnid	25 Jun 1999	–	37	42	5	5	5	6	5
Forsa	24 Jun 1999	–	32	45	6	5	6	6	13
Infratest dimap	19 Jun 1999	–	33	46	7	5	5	4	13
Emnid	18 Jun 1999	–	37	41	5	6	5	6	4
Forsa	17 Jun 1999	–	34	45	6	4	6	5	11
Allensbach	16 Jun 1999	–	35.6	39.7	6.6	7.7	5.8	4.6	4.1
1999 European election	13 Jun 1999	–	30.7	48.7	6.4	3.0	5.8	5.4	18.0
Infratest dimap	12 Jun 1999	–	37	43	6	5	5	4	6
Emnid	11 Jun 1999	–	39	41	6	6	5	3	2
Forsa	10 Jun 1999	–	34	44	6	5	5	6	10
Infratest dimap	5 Jun 1999	–	34	45	6	5	6	4	11
Emnid	4 Jun 1999	–	37	41	6	6	5	5	4
Forsa	3 Jun 1999	–	34	44	5	6	6	5	10
Infratest dimap	29 May 1999	–	36	43	6	5	6	3	7
Emnid	28 May 1999	–	38	40	6	5	6	5	2
Forsa	27 May 1999	–	35	43	5	6	6	5	8
Infratest dimap	22 May 1999	–	35	44	7	5	6	3	9
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	21 May 1999	–	40	42	5	5	4	4	2
Emnid	21 May 1999	–	39	40	6	5	6	5	1
Forsa	20 May 1999	–	33	43	6	6	6	6	10
Allensbach	19 May 1999	–	37.3	36.8	7.8	7.0	5.9	5.2	0.5
Infratest dimap	15 May 1999	–	36	44	6	5	5	4	9
Emnid	14 May 1999	–	38	40	6	6	5	5	2
Forsa	12 May 1999	–	34	43	6	6	6	5	9
Infratest dimap	8 May 1999	–	37	42	6	5	6	4	5
Emnid	7 May 1999	–	39	40	6	5	6	5	1
Forsa	6 May 1999	–	35	42	6	6	6	5	7
Infratest dimap	1 May 1999	–	37	42	5	5	6	5	5
Emnid	30 Apr 1999	–	39	39	6	5	5	6	Tie
Forsa	29 Apr 1999	–	37	42	6	6	5	4	5
Infratest dimap	24 Apr 1999	–	35	43	6	5	6	5	8
Emnid	23 Apr 1999	–	40	39	6	5	5	5	1
Forsa	22 Apr 1999	–	38	41	5	6	6	4	3
Infratest dimap	17 Apr 1999	–	36	43	6	5	6	4	7
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	16 Apr 1999	–	41	41	5	5	4	4	Tie
Emnid	16 Apr 1999	–	39	40	6	5	5	5	1
Forsa	15 Apr 1999	–	37	42	6	5	6	4	5
Allensbach	14 Apr 1999	–	37.6	37.9	6.5	7.5	5.5	5.0	0.3
Infratest dimap	10 Apr 1999	–	35	43	6	5	6	5	8
Emnid	9 Apr 1999	–	38	40	6	5	6	5	2
Forsa	8 Apr 1999	–	37	43	6	4	5	5	6
Infratest dimap	3 Apr 1999	–	36	43	6	5	6	4	7
Forsa	1 Apr 1999	–	34	44	6	5	6	5	10
Infratest dimap	27 Mar 1999	–	36	43	7	5	6	3	7
Emnid	26 Mar 1999	–	38	40	6	6	5	5	2
Forsa	25 Mar 1999	–	34	44	7	5	6	4	10
Infratest dimap	20 Mar 1999	–	38	43	6	5	5	3	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	19 Mar 1999	–	41	41	5	5	4	4	Tie
Emnid	19 Mar 1999	–	39	41	6	5	5	6	2
Forsa	18 Mar 1999	–	35	43	7	5	5	5	8
Allensbach	17 Mar 1999	–	37.0	38.7	6.8	7.4	5.7	4.4	1.7
Infratest dimap	13 Mar 1999	–	38	42	6	5	5	4	4
Emnid	12 Mar 1999	–	39	40	6	6	5	4	1
Forsa	11 Mar 1999	–	37	42	7	5	5	4	5
Infratest dimap	6 Mar 1999	–	38	41	6	5	5	5	3
Emnid	5 Mar 1999	–	39	40	6	5	5	5	1
Forsa	4 Mar 1999	–	38	41	6	5	5	5	3
Infratest dimap	27 Feb 1999	–	40	41	6	5	4	4	1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	26 Feb 1999	–	42	39	6	4	4	5	3
Emnid	26 Feb 1999	–	39	40	6	6	5	4	1
Forsa	25 Feb 1999	–	37	42	6	6	4	5	5
Infratest dimap	20 Feb 1999	–	39	41	6	5	5	4	2
Emnid	19 Feb 1999	–	40	40	6	5	5	4	Tie
Forsa	18 Feb 1999	–	38	41	6	5	5	5	3
Infratest dimap	13 Feb 1999	–	38	41	6	5	5	5	3
Emnid	12 Feb 1999	–	40	38	6	5	5	6	2
Forsa	11 Feb 1999	–	38	40	6	6	5	5	2
Infratest dimap	6 Feb 1999	–	40	39	7	5	5	4	1
Emnid	5 Feb 1999	–	41	37	7	5	5	5	4
Forsa	4 Feb 1999	–	39	39	6	6	5	5	Tie
Infratest dimap	30 Jan 1999	–	41	39	6	5	4	5	2
Emnid	29 Jan 1999	–	39	38	7	6	5	5	1
Forsa	28 Jan 1999	–	39	39	7	5	5	5	Tie
Infratest dimap	23 Jan 1999	–	40	40	6	5	5	4	Tie
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	22 Jan 1999	–	44	37	6	4	4	5	7
Emnid	22 Jan 1999	–	40	38	6	5	5	6	2
Forsa	21 Jan 1999	–	39	38	7	5	5	6	1
Infratest dimap	16 Jan 1999	–	41	39	7	6	4	3	2
Emnid	15 Jan 1999	–	41	36	7	6	6	4	5
Forsa	14 Jan 1999	–	39	37	7	5	6	6	2
Infratest dimap	9 Jan 1999	–	41	39	7	5	4	4	2
Emnid	8 Jan 1999	–	40	37	6	6	5	6	3
Forsa	7 Jan 1999	–	39	37	7	5	5	7	2
Emnid	2 Jan 1999	–	41	37	6	6	5	5	4
Infratest dimap	19 Dec 1998	–	40	38	8	5	5	4	2
Emnid	18 Dec 1998	–	40	37	6	5	5	7	3
Forsa	17 Dec 1998	–	40	37	6	5	5	7	3
Allensbach	16 Dec 1998	–	39.4	36.3	7.2	6.0	–	–	3.1
Infratest dimap	12 Dec 1998	–	39	38	8	6	5	4	1
Emnid	11 Dec 1998	–	40	37	6	5	5	7	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	11 Dec 1998	–	44	36	7	4	4	5	8
Forsa	10 Dec 1998	–	38	39	6	5	6	6	1
Infratest dimap	5 Dec 1998	–	39	39	7	5	5	5	Tie
Emnid	4 Dec 1998	–	40	37	6	6	5	6	3
Forsa	3 Dec 1998	–	38	39	7	5	5	6	1
Infratest dimap	28 Nov 1998	–	42	37	7	5	5	4	5
Emnid	27 Nov 1998	–	39	36	7	6	5	6	3
Forsa	26 Nov 1998	–	38	38	7	5	5	7	Tie
Infratest dimap	21 Nov 1998	–	42	37	7	5	5	4	5
Emnid	20 Nov 1998	–	40	37	6	5	5	7	3
Forsa	19 Nov 1998	–	39	37	7	6	6	5	2
Infratest dimap	14 Nov 1998	–	41	37	7	6	5	4	4
Emnid	13 Nov 1998	–	42	35	6	6	5	6	7
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	13 Nov 1998	–	44	35	7	4	4	6	9
Forsa	12 Nov 1998	–	39	38	6	6	6	5	1
Infratest dimap	7 Nov 1998	–	42	37	7	5	5	4	5
Emnid	6 Nov 1998	–	41	36	6	5	5	7	5
Forsa	5 Nov 1998	–	39	38	7	6	5	5	1
Infratest dimap	31 Oct 1998	–	41	36	7	6	5	5	5
Emnid	30 Oct 1998	–	39	37	7	6	5	6	2
Forsa	29 Oct 1998	–	39	39	6	6	5	5	Tie
Infratest dimap	24 Oct 1998	–	40	36	8	7	5	4	4
Emnid	23 Oct 1998	–	42	35	6	6	5	6	7
Infratest dimap	17 Oct 1998	–	40	36	8	7	5	4	4
Emnid	16 Oct 1998	–	41	35	6	6	5	7	6
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	16 Oct 1998	–	44	35	6	5	4	6	9
Infratest dimap	10 Oct 1998	–	42	36	7	6	5	4	6
Emnid	9 Oct 1998	–	42	35	6	6	5	6	7
Infratest dimap	2 Oct 1998	–	41	36	7	6	5	5	5
1998 federal election	27 Sep 1998	–	40.9	35.1	6.7	6.2	5.1	5.9	5.8

Results

Although most opposition parties gained seats, and the result was in doubt for most of the election night, the governing coalition retained a narrow majority. In particular, the SPD was able to partially offset declines in their vote share in the West with an increase in the East, with the PDS falling below both the 5% threshold and the 3-seat threshold, either of which is required to qualify a party for top-up seats. Consequently, the PDS held only two directly elected seats.

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Social Democratic Party	18,488,668	38.52	80	20,059,967	41.93	171	251	−47
	Christian Democratic Union	14,167,561	29.52	108	15,336,512	32.06	82	190	−8
	Christian Social Union	4,315,080	8.99	15	4,311,178	9.01	43	58	+11
	Alliance 90/The Greens	4,110,355	8.56	54	2,693,794	5.63	1	55	+8
	Free Democratic Party	3,538,815	7.37	47	2,752,796	5.75	0	47	+4
	Party of Democratic Socialism	1,916,702	3.99	0	2,079,203	4.35	2	2	−34
	Party for a Rule of Law Offensive	400,476	0.83	0	120,330	0.25	0	0	New
	The Republicans	280,671	0.58	0	55,947	0.12	0	0	0
	National Democratic Party	215,232	0.45	0	103,209	0.22	0	0	0
	Human Environment Animal Protection Party	159,655	0.33	0	8,858	0.02	0	0	0
	The Grays – Gray Panthers	114,224	0.24	0	75,490	0.16	0	0	0
	Party of Bible-abiding Christians	101,645	0.21	0	71,106	0.15	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party	56,898	0.12	0	56,593	0.12	0	0	0
	Feminist Party	36,832	0.08	0	2,264	0.00	0	0	0
	Family Party	30,045	0.06	0	15,138	0.03	0	0	0
	Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität	16,958	0.04	0	22,531	0.05	0	0	0
	Christian Centre	15,440	0.03	0	2,413	0.01	0	0	0
	Bavaria Party	9,379	0.02	0	6,757	0.01	0	0	0
	Party for Pension Justice and Family	7,499	0.02	0	4,363	0.01	0	0	New
	Departure for Civil Rights, Freedom and Health	4,697	0.01	0	2,895	0.01	0	0	New
	Centre Party	3,127	0.01	0	1,823	0.00	0	0	0
	Humanist Party	2,485	0.01	0	1,385	0.00	0	0	0
	The Violets	2,412	0.01	0	840	0.00	0	0	New
	Communist Party of Germany	1,624	0.00	0	686	0.00	0	0	0
	German Social Union				6,003	0.01	0	0	0
	German Communist Party				3,953	0.01	0	0	0
	Freedom Party				2,003	0.00	0	0	0
	Alliance for Germany				571	0.00	0	0	0
	Independents and voter groups				43,116	0.09	0	0	0
Total		47,996,480	100.00	304	47,841,724	100.00	299	603	−66
Valid votes		47,996,480	98.79		47,841,724	98.47
Invalid/blank votes		586,281	1.21		741,037	1.53
Total votes		48,582,761	100.00		48,582,761	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		61,432,868	79.08		61,432,868	79.08
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Seat results – SPD in red, Greens in green, PDS in purple, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Results by state

Second vote (Zweitstimme, or votes for party list)

State results in %	SPD	CDU/CSU	GRÜNE	FDP	PDS	all others
Baden-Württemberg	33.5	42.8	11.4	7.8	1.0	3.5
Bavaria	26.1	58.6	7.6	4.5	0.7	2.5
Berlin	36.6	25.9	14.6	6.6	11.4	4.9
Brandenburg	46.4	22.3	4.5	5.8	17.2	3.8
Bremen	48.6	24.6	15.0	6.7	2.2	2.9
Hamburg	42.0	28.1	16.2	6.8	2.1	4.8
Hesse	39.7	37.1	10.7	8.2	1.3	3.0
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	41.7	30.3	3.5	5.4	16.3	2.8
Lower Saxony	47.8	34.5	7.3	7.1	1.0	2.3
North Rhine-Westphalia	43.0	35.1	8.9	9.4	1.2	2.4
Rhineland-Palatinate	38.2	40.3	7.9	9.3	1.0	3.3
Saarland	46.0	35.0	7.6	6.4	1.4	3.6
Saxony	33.3	33.6	4.6	7.3	16.2	4.9
Saxony-Anhalt	43.2	29.0	3.4	7.6	14.4	2.4
Schleswig-Holstein	42.9	36.0	9.4	8.0	1.3	2.4
Thuringia	39.9	29.4	4.3	5.9	17.0	3.5

Constituency seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		SPD	CDU	CSU	PDS	Grüne
Baden-Württemberg	37	7	30
Bavaria	44	1		43
Berlin	12	9			2	1
Brandenburg	10	10
Bremen	2	2
Hamburg	6	6
Hesse	21	17	4
Lower Saxony	29	25	4
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	7	5	2
North Rhine-Westphalia	64	45	19
Rhineland-Palatinate	15	7	8
Saarland	4	4
Saxony	17	4	13
Saxony-Anhalt	10	10
Schleswig-Holstein	11	10	1
Thuringia	10	9	1
Total	299	171	82	43	2	1

List seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		CDU	SPD	Grüne	FDP	CSU
Baden-Württemberg	39	4	20	9	6
Bavaria	51		25	7	4	15
Berlin	11	6		3	2
Brandenburg	6	4		1	1
Bremen	2	1		1
Hamburg	7	4		2	1
Hesse	23	13	1	5	4
Lower Saxony	34	18	6	5	5
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	3	2			1
North Rhine-Westphalia	70	30	15	12	13
Rhineland-Palatinate	15	5	5	2	3
Saarland	5	3		1	1
Saxony	12		8	2	2
Saxony-Anhalt	8	6		1	1
Schleswig-Holstein	11	7		2	2
Thuringia	7	5		1	1
Total	304	108	80	54	47	15

Post-election

The coalition between the SPD and the Greens continued in government, with Schröder as chancellor. However, due to the slim majority in the Bundestag, the governing coalition was not stable.

Further reading

• Pulzer, Peter (April 2003). "The devil they know: The German federal election of 2002". West European Politics. 26 (2): 153–164. doi:10.1080/01402380512331341151.

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos