| Election Name: | 2011 Bremen state election |
| Country: | Bremen |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2007 Bremen state election |
| Previous Year: | 2007 |
| Next Election: | 2015 Bremen state election |
| Next Year: | 2015 |
| Seats For Election: | All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen |
| Majority Seats: | 42 |
| Election Date: | 22 May 2011 |
| Turnout: | 1,309,355 (55.5%) 2.1% |
| Leader1: | Jens Böhrnsen |
| Party1: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Last Election1: | 32 seats, 36.7% |
| Seats1: | 36 |
| Popular Vote1: | 505,348 |
| Seat Change1: | 4 |
| Percentage1: | 38.6% |
| Swing1: | 1.9% |
| Leader2: | Karoline Linnert |
| Party2: | Alliance 90/The Greens |
| Last Election2: | 14 seats, 16.5% |
| Seats2: | 21 |
| Popular Vote2: | 293,993 |
| Seat Change2: | 7 |
| Percentage2: | 22.5% |
| Swing2: | 6.0% |
| Party3: | Christian Democratic Union (Germany) |
| Last Election3: | 23 seats, 25.6% |
| Seats3: | 20 |
| Popular Vote3: | 266,483 |
| Seat Change3: | 3 |
| Percentage3: | 20.4% |
| Swing3: | 5.2% |
| Leader4: | Kristina Vogt |
| Party4: | The Left (Germany) |
| Last Election4: | 7 seats, 8.4% |
| Seats4: | 5 |
| Popular Vote4: | 73,769 |
| Seat Change4: | 2 |
| Percentage4: | 5.6% |
| Swing4: | 2.8% |
| Leader5: | Jan Timke |
| Party5: | Citizens in Rage |
| Last Election5: | 1 seat, 0.8% |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 0 |
| Popular Vote5: | 48,530 |
| Percentage5: | 3.7% |
| Swing5: | 2.9% |
| Leader6: | Oliver Möllenstädt |
| Party6: | Free Democratic Party (Germany) |
| Last Election6: | 5 seats, 6.0% |
| Seats6: | 0 |
| Seat Change6: | 5 |
| Popular Vote6: | 31,176 |
| Percentage6: | 2.4% |
| Swing6: | 3.6% |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Jens Böhrnsen |
| Before Party: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| After Election: | Jens Böhrnsen |
| After Party: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
The 2011 Bremen state election was held on 22 May 2011 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven.[1] [2] The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens was re-elected with an increased majority. The Greens became the second-largest party in a state legislature for the second time after the 2011 Baden-Württemberg state election on 27 March.[3] [4]
Sixteen and seventeen year olds were able to vote for the first time in this election.[5] A reform to the electoral system came into effect in this election, based on an open list system, with each voter having five votes to distribute freely between parties and candidates.[5]
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Bürgerschaft of Bremen.
| Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2007 result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||||
| bgcolor= | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany | Social democracy | Jens Böhrnsen | 36.7% | |||
| bgcolor= | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | Christian democracy | Rita Mohr-Lüllmann | 25.6% | |||
| bgcolor= | Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens | Green politics | Karoline Linnert | 16.5% | |||
| bgcolor= | Linke | The Left | Democratic socialism | Kristina Vogt | 8.4% | |||
| bgcolor= | FDP | Free Democratic Party | Classical liberalism | Oliver Möllenstädt | 6.0% | |||
| bgcolor= | NPD | National Democratic Party of Germany | Neo-Nazism | 2.7% | ||||
| bgcolor= | BiW | Citizens in Rage | Right-wing populism | Jan Timke | 0.8% | |||
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | SPD | CDU | Grüne | Linke | FDP | BiW | Others | Lead | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 state election | data-sort-value="2011-05-22" | 22 May 2011 | – | 38.6 | 20.4 | 22.5 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 6.9 | 16.1 | ||
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | data-sort-value="2011-05-13" | 10–12 May 2011 | 1,037 | 37 | 19 | 24 | 6 | 4 | – | 7 | 13 | ||
| Infratest dimap | data-sort-value="2011-04-30" | 10–12 May 2011 | 1,001 | 36 | 20 | 24 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 12 | ||
| Emnid | data-sort-value="2011-04-30" | 20–28 Apr 2011 | 1,004 | 37 | 22 | 24 | 7 | 4 | – | 6 | 13 | ||
| Forsa | data-sort-value="2011-02-19" | Jan–Feb 2011 | 1,308 | 38 | 23 | 22 | 7 | 4 | – | 6 | 15 | ||
| Konkret Marktforschung | data-sort-value="2010-12-22" | 17–19 Dec 2010 | 500 | 33.4 | 22.8 | 19.4 | 8.5 | 3.3 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 10.6 | ||
| Emnid | data-sort-value="2010-03-30" | 12–17 Feb 2010 | 1,000 | 35 | 25 | 17 | 11 | 5 | – | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2007 state election | data-sort-value="2007-05-13" | 13 May 2007 | – | 36.7 | 25.6 | 16.5 | 8.4 | 6.0 | 0.8 | 5.9 | 11.1 |