The elections for the next state parliament in North Rhine-Westphalia will take place today. Here you will find everything you need to know about the state elections in a short and concise manner.
On May 15th there are state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. We have put together the most important information about the organization and procedure of the state elections for you.
The election notification will be sent to voters by post a few weeks before election day on May 15. Voting is possible on election day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the polling station or earlier by postal voting.
All citizens entitled to vote have two votes – a first and a second vote. With the first vote, a direct candidate from the respective constituency is elected. There are 128 constituencies in North Rhine-Westphalia. After a relative majority election via the first vote, 128 seats are allocated.
Voters cast their second vote for a party. At least 53 deputies are elected to the state parliament in the state elections via the second votes. The exact number of seats is calculated from the percentage of second votes that party received.
In order to be able to vote in the state elections in NRW, voters must
Residents who wish to stand for election must meet the following requirements:
If you are still unsure which party to vote for on May 15th, you can get help from Wahl-O-Mat. 38 theses guide you through the most important topics of state politics. In the end, the degree to which one’s own views correspond to the party’s election manifestos is revealed.
The theses for the election were selected by young and first-time voters together with employees of the State Commissioner for Civic Education, the Federal Agency for Civic Education and experts from state politics.
The Wahl-O-Mat for the state elections will be put online for users in May by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Try it now – Wahl-O-Mat North Rhine-Westphalia state election: Who do you vote for?
Top candidates of the parties represented in the state parliament:
State lists with top candidates approved by the state electoral committee:
Six state lists were rejected for the 2022 state elections. According to the state electoral committee, no party characteristics could be identified at AlphaHHP, the Anarchist Pogo Party in Germany and the Future Party. Alliance C, the conservative conservative party and the German center did not reach the 500 necessary support signatures.
Three weeks before the state elections, the CDU and SPD are still almost equally popular with voters. If a new state parliament were elected in North Rhine-Westphalia this Sunday, the CDU would come to 31 percent, as in the last survey three weeks ago, just ahead of the SPD with an unchanged 30 percent. This is the result of the NRW trend surveyed by Infratest dimap on behalf of the WDR magazine WESTPOL from April 19th to 21st, 2022. The Greens could easily gain ground and with 16 percent (1) would still be the third strongest force. The FDP, as the current small coalition partner, would remain unchanged at 8 percent, the AfD at 7. The left would lose ground and, with 3 percent (-1), would miss the return to the Düsseldorf parliament. The other parties would come together to 5 percent.
With this outcome, it would not be enough for a new edition of the current black-yellow government alliance. In addition to a CDU-led grand coalition, a black-green alliance and a Jamaica alliance of CDU, Greens and FDP would also be possible. The SPD, in turn, could form a traffic light coalition with the Greens and FDP, as in the federal government. It would just not be enough for red-green.
Movements are still possible until May 15: A fifth of those eligible to vote (21 percent) do not want to rule out a change in their current party preference by election day. According to their own statements, a good half of those entitled to vote (56 percent) have already made their decision to vote About a quarter of those entitled to vote (23 percent) currently tend not to vote or have not yet shown any inclination towards a party
In the direct election question, incumbent Hendrik Wüst is still ahead of his SPD challenger Thomas Kutschaty, who, however, can still make up ground. If those entitled to vote could elect the head of government of North Rhine-Westphalia directly, 41 percent would currently choose Wüst (1 compared to the survey at the beginning of April), 32 percent (5) for Kuchaty. A good quarter (27 percent, -6) cannot or does not want to decide on either candidate.
CDU candidate Wüst can draw little benefit from the assessment of the black and yellow government work. The performance of the Düsseldorf cabinet continues to meet with only mixed feedback in the state. Half (48 percent, -2) express themselves positively, about as many (49 percent, 3) come to a critical judgment.
Looking at various coalition options, North Rhine-Westphalia would prefer a government alliance of the SPD and the Greens. For 41 percent of those surveyed, red-green would be a good state government (2 compared to May 2017). A black-yellow coalition, on the other hand, is only rated positively by 33 percent, significantly less than before the 2017 election (-13). A grand coalition of CDU and SPD finds support at 31 percent, a traffic light at 30 percent (-2). Black-Green rated 28 percent (5) as positive, a Jamaica alliance 26 percent (-5).
When asked which party solves the most important problems in the state, the CDU is at the top with 28 percent, just ahead of the SPD with 27 percent. Compared to May 2017, however, both the CDU (-7) and the SPD (-10) have lost a lot of trust. 8 percent (6) trust the Greens to be able to solve the most important problems in the state, 6 percent (1) the Liberals. 4 percent (3) rely on the AfD.
In view of the economic consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the security of energy supply has come into focus again. Here the CDU can convince almost every fourth person (24 percent), the Greens (21 percent) and the SPD (20 percent) every fifth person.
When it comes to the economy and work, the CDU and SPD have lost competence compared to 2017, while the FDP has gained ground. One in three (34 percent, -13 compared to May 2017) sees the greatest economic competence in the CDU, followed by the SPD (21 percent, -7) and FDP (16 percent). When it comes to jobs, the SPD enjoys the greatest trust with 30 percent (-5), unlike in 2017, and is now ahead of the CDU with 28 percent (-10). The FDP comes to 10 percent ( 2).
At the beginning of the year, North Rhine-Westphalia named the areas of school and education, transport as well as climate and environmental policy as the most important political problems in the state, in addition to overcoming the corona pandemic. When it comes to school politics, the SPD (27 percent) and CDU (26 percent) are almost level at the top, but both are losing trust (CDU – 11, SPD-4). The FDP and the Greens both get 9 percent here. (FDP -1, Greens 5). When it comes to transport, the Greens, at 21 percent (12), have the greatest competence for the first time in the eyes of those surveyed. The CDU comes close behind with 20 percent, but also loses a lot of trust in this area (-14). The SPD comes to 17 percent (-6). The Greens are able to defend their top position despite losses in the area of environment and climate. Every second person (49 percent, -8) sees the greatest competence in the Greens. CDU (12 percent, -2) and SPD (11 percent, -1) cannot score here.
For the NRW trend, Infratest dimap from 19.04. By April 21, 2022, 1,164 eligible voters in North Rhine-Westphalia were surveyed by telephone (759) and online (405). Your answers are representative of all eligible voters.
