The period of the 16th Landtag formally ends on 30 April 2021. The election of the 17th Landtag must take place before this date. On 24 March 2020, the state government designated 14 March 2021 as the date for the next election, in accordance with Section 19 of the State Parliament Election Act.
Electoral system
The Landtag is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 70 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 50 members are then allocated using compensatory proportional representation, distributed in each of Baden-Württemberg's four government districts. Unlike other states, Baden-Württemberg does not use party lists to fill proportional seats; instead, they are filled by the best-performing candidates who failed to be elected in the single-member constituencies. Candidates elected in this manner are listed as winning a "second mandate" in the constituency in which they ran. The minimum size of the Landtag is 120 members, but if overhang seats are present, proportional leveling seats will be added to ensure proportionality. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are excluded.
Background
In the previous election held on 13 March 2016, The Greens became the largest party for the first time in any German state, winning 30.3% of votes cast. The CDU lost 12 percentage points, falling to second place on 27.0%. Alternative for Germany contested their first state election in Baden-Württemberg, placing third with 15.1%. The Social Democratic Party lost almost half its voteshare and finished with 12.7%. The Free Democratic Party won 8.3%. The Greens had led a coalition with the SPD since 2011, but this government lost its majority in the election. The Greens subsequently formed a coalition with the CDU, which took office as Cabinet Kretschmann II.
Campaign
Lead candidates
On 29 May 2019, Susanne Eisenmann was confirmed as the CDU's lead candidate for the election. She currently serves as state Minister for Education, Youth, and Sports. On 12 September 2019, Winfried Kretschmann stated that he will stand as the lead candidate for The Greens in the 2021 election, seeking a third term as Minister-President. On 1 February 2020, state party leaderAndreas Stoch was nominated as the SPD's lead candidate for the election. On 8 December 2019, the FDP state executive nominated Hans-Ulrich Rülke as their preferred lead candidate for the election. He was formally selected at a party conference in July 2020. Rülke has served as leader of the FDP Landtag faction since 2009, and was the party's lead candidate in the 2016 election.
Parties
The table below lists parties currently represented in the 16th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg.
