2026 Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Elections

The 2026 Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Elections are simultaneous elections held on 20 September 2026 to elect the Berlin state parliament (Abgeordnetenhaus) and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament (Landtag) in Germany.^【1】 In Berlin, the Left Party (Die Linke) rose to first place in its history with 25.7 percent of the vote and nominated Elif Eralp as its candidate for minister-president.^【2】 In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD) emerged victorious with 38.2 percent of the vote, achieving for the first time in its history the position of the leading party in a state.^【3】 The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, suffered major losses in both states. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the CDU failed to surpass the five percent electoral threshold and for the first time since 1945 did not enter a state parliament.

^{Seçim sonuçlarını partilileriyle birlikte takip eden Elif Eralp, 20 Eylül 2026 - (Anadolu Ajansı)}

The Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state elections were conducted as the final state elections in Germany in 2026.^【4】 Voting began at 08:00 local time and ended at 18:00 in both states. Approximately 2,487,318 voters in Berlin and about 1.3 million in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were eligible to vote. ^【5】

The elections followed the AfD’s victory two weeks earlier in Saxony-Anhalt, where it won 43.8 percent of the vote. This result was seen as a major development, indicating that the party was only three seats short of an absolute majority and poised to form the first far-right state government in Germany since the end of the Second World War.^【6】 Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in his 16th month in office and is reported to have an approval rating of approximately 14 percent in public opinion polls.^【7】

According to the preliminary official results published by the Berlin State Election Commission as of 03:33 on 21 September 2026, the number of registered voters was 2,487,318 and the number of voters who cast ballots was 1,846,170 (74.2 percent). This represents an increase of 11.3 percentage points compared to the 2023 election. Of the valid second votes (Zweitstimme/party vote), 1,824,514 were valid (98.8 percent) and 21,656 were invalid (1.2 percent).^【8】

The results by party vote (Zweitstimme) are as follows:^【9】

The results for the first vote (Erststimme/direct candidate vote) showed a somewhat different distribution: CDU received 20.3 percent, the Left Party 24.0 percent, the Greens 16.4 percent, AfD 16.0 percent, SPD 13.7 percent, BSW 4.2 percent, and FDP 2.2 percent. This discrepancy arises from Germany’s mixed-member proportional electoral system, in which voters can cast one vote for a direct candidate and another for a party list.^【10】

In the 158-seat Berlin State Parliament (Abgeordnetenhaus), an absolute majority requires 80 seats. According to the preliminary official results, the seat distribution is as follows:

Under this distribution, the current CDU-SPD coalition, with a total of 56 seats, has lost its majority. Since the CDU has ruled out forming a coalition with the Left Party and all parties have rejected any cooperation with AfD, only two possible three-party coalitions exist mathematically: a coalition of the Left Party, Greens and SPD would have 95 seats, and a coalition of CDU, Greens and SPD would have 82 seats. In contrast, two-party combinations such as CDU-SPD (56), CDU-Greens (60), Left Party-Greens (73), and Left Party-SPD (69) are insufficient to achieve a majority.^【11】

Elif Eralp, co-leader of the Left Party and its candidate for minister-president, stated after the election that her party would approve exploratory talks with the Greens and SPD and would work to form a coalition aimed at resolving Berlin’s housing crisis.^【13】 The Greens, in their post-election statement, affirmed that Berliners had clearly rejected the current CDU-SPD coalition and expressed their desire to form a progressive alliance with the SPD and the Left Party.^【14】

SPD State Chair and minister-president candidate Steffen Krach responded to questions about coalition preferences on election night with: “We were voted out of office. We have no mandate to form a government.” CDU State Chair and minister-president candidate Stefan Evers accepted the election result and congratulated the leading party but avoided making any concrete statements regarding coalition possibilities.^【15】

There is no legal deadline for the new parliament to elect its minister-president. After the 2023 repeat election, it took 74 days for Kai Wegner (CDU) to be elected as acting minister-president.^【16】 The final official election results are expected to be published by the state election commission within approximately two weeks.

In direct constituencies, the CDU won most districts in western and southern Berlin, while the Left Party won in central districts, and AfD won in some districts in eastern Berlin. ^【17】

Some leading candidates failed to win direct mandates and entered parliament via party lists. Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) finished second in Treptow-Köpenick behind the AfD candidate. SPD State Chair Steffen Krach came third in Steglitz-Zehlendorf behind the CDU and Green candidates. AfD parliamentary group leader Kristin Brinker finished fifth in her constituency of Steglitz-Zehlendorf but secured re-election due to her position as the top candidate on the state list.^【18】

Left Party minister-president candidate Elif Eralp won a direct mandate in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg constituency. The Greens’ minister-president candidate Werner Graf did not run in any direct constituency but secured a seat in parliament via his second-place position on the state list.^【19】

Former acting minister-president Franziska Giffey (SPD) lost her race in Rudow to the CDU candidate and will not enter the new parliament.^【20】

In Berlin, according to voting method, 44.1 percent of voters cast their ballots at polling stations, 30.1 percent voted by mail, and 25.8 percent did not vote. ^【21】

Due to irregularities, the 2023 Berlin State Parliament election was annulled by court order and repeated with the following results: CDU 28.2 percent (52 seats), SPD 18.4 percent (34 seats), Greens 18.4 percent (34 seats), Left Party 12.2 percent (22 seats), and AfD 9.1 percent (17 seats). Despite having a majority with the SPD, Greens and Left Party, the victorious CDU opted to form a black-red (CDU-SPD) coalition.^【22】

Elif Eralp ran as the Left Party’s candidate for minister-president of Berlin and gained the opportunity to lead the city after her party became the leading force in the election.^【23】 Eralp was born in Munich as the daughter of a family that migrated from Turkey to Germany following the 1980 coup.^【24】 If elected, she will become the first Left Party minister-president of Berlin since German reunification and the city’s first minister-president of Turkish origin.^【25】

Eralp completed her legal education in Hamburg and then worked for approximately ten years as a human rights lawyer in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag).^【26】 She worked for over a decade as a legal advisor to the Left Party, completed an internship with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and was among the founders of a migrant rights network within the party.^【27】 Eralp joined the Left Party in 2017, served as a member of the Berlin State Parliament since 2021, and was appointed second deputy chair of the party’s parliamentary group in 2024. She has campaigned in the Kreuzberg district against racism, for migrant social participation, affordable housing, and against gentrification. Eralp is married and a mother of two children.^【29】

Eralp’s campaign focused on social housing, tenant rights, and public services. She advocated for bringing large housing corporations under public oversight and implementing nationwide rent caps.^【30】 Eralp stated she wants Berlin to become a “solidarity city,” arguing that this status would make the German capital more welcoming to refugees, end “discriminatory police checks,” and increase migrant participation in civil society. In her victory speech, she declared: “I stand for a social policy that unites everyone. Right now, our priority is making Berlin affordable.”^【31】

Eralp’s campaign was inspired by the model of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani; some Left Party members traveled to New York to study his campaign. Eralp said: “If a left-wing candidate can win in New York, there is no reason why it cannot happen in Berlin.”^【32】 According to data from the analytics platform viral.app, Eralp was the most viewed candidate on social media with 6.3 million views. ^【33】

After her daughter’s electoral success, Elif Eralp’s mother, Hülya Eralp, said: “I am very happy. I am proud of my daughter. I did not even imagine she would receive so many votes. But I truly could not hold back my tears of joy.” Hülya Eralp stated that since arriving in Germany with her husband, they have fought against racism and supported migrants, and that their home has always been open to migrants, workers, and those resisting racism. Hülya Eralp said the family had long considered her daughter’s candidacy and ultimately supported her with the message: “This is a historic moment—you must do it.”^【34】

According to the preliminary official results released by the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Election Commission, the AfD won the election with 38.2 percent of the vote. The SPD came second with 35.5 percent, while the Left Party received 6.5 percent and the Greens 5.7 percent, allowing both to enter the state parliament. The CDU received 4.9 percent and the Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Understanding (BSW) 4.8 percent, falling below the five percent electoral threshold and thus failing to enter parliament.^【35】

In the 71-seat Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Parliament, an absolute majority requires 36 seats. The seat distribution is as follows:

Although the AfD is the leading party, it is four seats short of an absolute majority (36 seats). The current SPD-Left Party coalition, with 34 seats, cannot achieve a majority. However, a three-party coalition of SPD, Left Party and Greens would have 39 seats and thus a majority. Because all other parties have ruled out cooperation with the AfD, the AfD’s chances of forming a government remain limited despite its leading position.^【36】

AfD’s candidate for minister-president, Leif-Erik Holm, claimed the right to form the next state government after the election and stated that his party would hold talks with all other parties “to get things moving.”^【37】 In an interview with public broadcaster ARD, Holm emphasized that the party has a “conservative program” covering education, economy and security, and that the AfD’s state organization in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is not under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz). Nevertheless, the incumbent SPD State Minister-President Manuela Schwesig is expected to remain in office.^【38】

Schwesig has governed the state since 2017 and is its first female minister-president.^【39】 Running her campaign under the slogan “Woman against Blue,” a reference to the AfD’s party color, Schwesig told ZDF after the election that this was the “most difficult state election” her party had faced. She said the SPD had fought the AfD “with content, with people, with clarity and with united effort.”^【40】

Schwesig’s political record includes her government’s support in 2021 for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Schwesig acknowledged this as a mistake and during a visit to Kyiv in 2024 endorsed additional arms deliveries by declaring: “Ukraine must win this war.” ^【41】

During its campaign, the AfD advocated for the mass deportation of undocumented migrants, the end of military aid to Ukraine, and closer relations with Russia. It has been reported that the AfD’s candidate for minister-president compared his approach to the Trump administration’s “America First” policy. According to Reuters, the state faces a serious shortage of skilled labor due to an aging population and declining birth rates, and approximately 50,000 people of migrant background play a significant role in the state economy, a fact that contradicts the far right’s anti-migrant rhetoric.^【42】 Voter turnout in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern reached 78.1 percent, an increase from 70.8 percent in 2021.^【43】

Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking at the CDU headquarters, described the result in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a “heavy blow” and said: “This election is a profound turning point. For the CDU, failing to surpass the five percent threshold and losing all parliamentary representation in a state parliament is a dramatic and unprecedented outcome. This is a heavy blow and its effects will be felt by us for a long time.”^【44】 Merz stated that the CDU has been crushed between the polarization of the SPD and AfD and emphasized that returning to the past is not a solution—reforms are necessary. He described the Berlin result as a “proper outcome under difficult conditions.”^【46】

Merz noted that the election results and their underlying causes extend far beyond his own person, stating that Germany is witnessing a fundamental transformation of the political system, as seen in many other countries. He labeled the AfD and the Left Party as “destructive forces.”^【47】

Merz thanked the SPD, his coalition partner, for its decision to remain in government and said he expected a clear response from the SPD and Greens regarding their refusal to form a state government with the Left Party in Berlin. Merz also said the country has become more complex, public debate has grown increasingly harsh, and trust in institutions has declined. He warned against the “poison of authoritarianism” seeping into society through “admiration for authoritarianism” and insisted that Germany must once again become a “country of new beginnings.” ^【48】

Merz confirmed that he will remain in office and continue his reform agenda.^【49】 Several state premiers, who had jointly issued a letter of support for Merz a week before the election, met on 20 September. One participant told Reuters that the meeting was not an “insurrection or conspiracy” against Merz but reflected a consensus that he must “deliver more.” ^【50】 SPD Co-Chair Bärbel Bas said: “We cannot continue like this.” SPD Chair Lars Klingbeil implied that the reform process would continue but some adjustments might be made, particularly noting that the planned abolition of the retirement age of 63 has created “great uncertainty” in society. He stressed that the fear of not qualifying for retirement despite working for 45 years must be taken seriously and addressed.^【51】

Infineon CEO Jochen Hanebeck, in a LinkedIn post, said: “Economic strength is built not by waiting but by actively shaping the future. We cannot afford to lose momentum.” He called on Merz to maintain his determination in the reform process.

The AfD’s results have been viewed as a turning point in its process of becoming a key force in national politics. AfD Co-Chair Alice Weidel declared after exit polls were released that her party is “Germany’s new people’s party,” adding: “We have left the CDU behind and people want political change.” She labeled Merz as “seriously damaged” and stated: “I believe the CDU cannot continue with a weak chancellor like Friedrich Merz.”

On social media, Weidel wrote that the CDU must carefully consider whether it will continue its “firewall” (Brandmauer) policy, especially in eastern Germany, and called on parties to meet and discuss.^【52】 AfD Co-Chair Tino Chrupalla told ZDF television that Merz must resign, criticizing his statement as “truly weak” and accusing him of refusing to accept the election’s implications and instead continuing business as usual.^【53】

The AfD’s recent rise has continued since its first state election victory in Thuringia in 2024, followed two weeks ago by its historic 43.8 percent win in Saxony-Anhalt. With this result, the AfD has now won a state election for the second time nationally and for the second time within a single month.

Germany’s domestic intelligence service continues to monitor the AfD as a suspected extremist organization. In February, a court blocked the agency’s attempt to classify the entire party as a confirmed far-right organization during an ongoing broader legal case. The AfD’s anti-migrant program includes a “remigration” policy calling for large-scale deportations and incentivizing migrants to leave the country, withdrawal from the European Union, lifting sanctions on Russia, and ending arms deliveries to Ukraine.^【54】