The Landtag is elected for five years, with its term commencing when the new Landtag first meets. Election must take place between 58 and 62 months after the start of the legislative period. In November 2019, the state government announced that the election will take place on 6 June 2021.
Electoral system
The Landtag is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 41 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 42 members are then allocated using compensatory proportional representation, distributed in each of Berlin's twelve boroughs. Voters have two votes: the "first vote" for candidates in single-member constituencies, and the "second vote" for party lists, which are used to fill the proportional seats. The minimum size of the Landtag is 83 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 from the Landtag.
Background
In the previous election held on 13 March 2016, the CDU remained the largest party with 29.8% of votes cast, a decline of 2.7 percentage points. Alternative for Germany contested its first election in Saxony-Anhalt, winning 24.3%. The Left fell from second to third place with 16.3%, a decline of 7.4 points. The SPD lost half its voteshare, falling to 10.6%. The Greens narrowly retained their seats with 5.2%. The CDU had led a coalition with the SPD since 2011, but this government lost its majority in the election. The CDU subsequently formed a coalition with the SPD and Greens.
Campaign
Lead candidates
On 9 March 2020, state CDU leader Holger Stahlknecht announced his desire to become the CDU's top candidate for the election. However, he stated he would not contest the position if Haseloff chose to seek another term as Minister-President. On 10 July 2020, SPD parliamentary group leader Katja Pähle was elected as the SPD's lead candidate for the election, defeating challenger Roger Stöcker. In a vote by the party membership, Pähle won 834 votes to Stöcker's 652. Greens parliamentary leader Cornelia Lüddemann is the only declared candidate for the top position on the Greens' list. The selection of the lead candidate is scheduled to take place on 4–5 September 2020. The Free Democratic Party, which narrowly failed to enter the Landtag in 2016, is set to select its lead candidate on 26 September. The only declared candidate is state deputy leader Lydia Hüskens.
Parties
The table below lists parties currently represented in the 7th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt.
