1990 North Rhine-Westphalia state election explained

Election Name:1990 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
Country:North Rhine-Westphalia
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1985 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
Previous Year:1985
Next Election:1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
Next Year:1995
Seats For Election:All 237 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, including 36 overhang and leveling seats
Majority Seats:119
Election Date:13 May 1990
Turnout:9,353,712 (71.8% 0.5pp)
Candidate1:Johannes Rau
Party1:Social Democratic Party of Germany
Last Election1:125 seats, 52.1%
Seats1:122
Seat Change1: 3
Popular Vote1:4,644,431
Percentage1:50.0%
Swing1: 2.2pp
Candidate2:Norbert Blüm
Party2:Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Last Election2:88 seats, 36.5%
Seats2:89
Seat Change2: 1
Popular Vote2:3,409,953
Percentage2:36.7%
Swing2: 0.2pp
Candidate4:Achim Rohde
Party4:Free Democratic Party (Germany)
Last Election4:14 seats, 6.0%
Seats4:14
Seat Change4: 0
Popular Vote4:535,656
Percentage4:5.8%
Swing4: 0.2pp
Candidate5:Bärbel Höhn
Party5:Alliance 90/The Greens
Last Election5:0 seats, 4.6%
Seats5:12
Seat Change5: 12
Popular Vote5:469,098
Percentage5:5.0%
Swing5: 0.5pp
Map Size:400px
Government
Before Election:Third Rau cabinet
Before Party:SPD
Posttitle:Government after election
After Election:Fourth Rau cabinet
After Party: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

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

See main article: 1985 North Rhine-Westphalia state election. 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

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

NameIdeologyLead
candidate
1985 result
Votes (%)Seats
bgcolor= SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany
Social democracyJohannes Rau52.1%
bgcolor= CDUChristian Democratic Union of Germany
Christian democracyNorbert Blüm36.5%
bgcolor= FDPFree Democratic Party
Classical liberalismAchim Rohde6.0%

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Landtagswahl NRW 1990. 19 February 2023. de. Wahlrecht.de.