Status: 15.05.2023 00:19
In the local elections in Schleswig-Holstein, a provisional state-wide final result has been determined. About 2.4 million people were called to vote. After the count, the CDU is ahead of the SPD and the Greens. AfD and SSW gain significantly in votes.
After counting the votes for the preliminary state result, the CDU is ahead in this year’s local elections: According to infratest dimap, the party has an average of 33.8 percent nationwide – that’s 1.3 percentage points less than in the previous election five years ago. The SPD is in second place with 19.4 percent, the Social Democrats lose significantly with minus 3.9 percentage points compared to 2018. The Greens come to 17.7 percent in the preliminary state result and are thus 1.2 percentage points above the result of 2018 The AfD has increased significantly, gaining 2.6 percentage points and is now at 8.1 percent. Behind is the FDP with currently 6.8 percent at the level of 2018. The SSW can also look forward to a significant gain in votes and is currently at 4.4 percent. The left comes to 2.1 percent, other parties and groups of voters have a total of 7.7 percent. The figures result from the district elections in the eleven districts and the municipal elections in the four urban districts.
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Greens in Kiel ahead, CDU in Lübeck and Neumünster, SPD loses significantly
In the council elections in the state capital of Kiel, the Greens are the strongest with 27.1 percent. The CDU came second with 22.9 percent. The SPD loses almost 8 percentage points in its former stronghold and is at 22 percent. In Lübeck, the CDU is ahead with 23.9 percent, followed by the SPD with 23 percent and the Greens with 22.6 percent. The CDU is also ahead in Neumünster with 29.3 percent, followed by the SPD (25.1) and the Greens (12.7). In Flensburg, the SSW is the strongest with 24.8 percent. The Greens came second with 23.6 percent, followed by the CDU with 19.1 and the SPD with 13.5 percent.
CDU: “Election goal has been reached”
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günter (CDU) spoke of a reason to be happy after the first projections. “Our election goal has been achieved,” he said. “We’re far ahead in all constituencies, have even improved our results in some cases, and we’re also fighting for first place in the urban districts.” The CDU had set itself the goal of taking first place nationwide five years ago, when the party achieved 35.1 percent. In comparison to the state election, the CDU performed significantly worse, but was satisfied with the result at the municipal level. Günther himself had cast his vote for the district council and the council meeting in Eckernförde in the afternoon.
SPD: Responsibility for the result together
The SPD state chairman Serpil Midyatli said after the first projections that one had to look very closely at regional differences. Still, she admitted: “I can’t say we’re happy.” Regarding the extent to which they are personally putting the losses in SPD strongholds under pressure, Midyatli said: “There were 5,000 comrades to choose from, everyone fought very, very hard. But in the end we are all together for a good cause We fought for the result – we will then represent and take responsibility for the result together.” SPD state director Götz Borchert had also expected different results across the country in advance, but had expected success in Kiel, Lübeck and Eckernförde in particular.
Green: “We don’t have to worry”
The Greens actually wanted to be the second strongest force in the local elections. According to the projections, the Greens state chairman Gazi Freitag was already satisfied. “The result actually shows that we don’t have to worry,” he said. The voters would appreciate that the Greens are taking responsibility at federal and state level. “We were able to improve nationwide compared to the last local election,” said Freitag. His party has won more mandates than ever before.
Cheers to the SSW
The joy was particularly great after the first counts at the SSW. The state chairman Christian Dirschauer thought more than three percent statewide and 20 percent in Flensburg to be realistic – with 4.4 the result was even better. In Flensburg, the party is the strongest with 24.8 percent. Christian Dirschauer won his constituency with 27.4 percent, beating the CDU for the first time.
Voter turnout at 49.5 percent
According to the latest counts, voter turnout is 49.5 percent – that’s 2.5 percentage points more than in the previous local election in 2018. At that time, the final turnout was 47 percent. With regard to the district elections and the municipal elections of the urban districts, according to the North Statistics Office, turnout was highest in the district of Plön at 56.1 percent, and turnout was also over 52 percent in Rendsburg-Eckernförde, North Friesland and Dithmarschen. Flensburg, on the other hand, recorded a negative record with 35.8 and Neumünster with 40.1 percent. In Lübeck, turnout was also comparatively low at 41.6 percent. In the state capital, turnout was 46 percent. In the district of Segeberg, 47.8 percent of those entitled to vote voted, in Ostholstein and Pinneberg the turnout was just under, in Steinburg, Duchy of Lauenburg and Stormarn just over 50 percent.
13,000 mandates for municipal and district councils
In total, more than 1,000 district municipalities, four district-free cities and eleven districts voted. 13,000 mandates for municipal and district councils are to be awarded. The number of candidates standing in the district and municipal elections in the urban districts has increased further compared to 2018 – to a good 3,900. Only one party or group of voters stood in 334 municipalities.
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