2020 Bavarian local elections

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Election advertising in the municipality of Grobenzell (Upper Bavaria) Kommunalwahl in Bayern 2020.jpg
Election advertising in the municipality of Gröbenzell (Upper Bavaria)

The 2020 Bavarian local elections took place on March 15, 2020, in all municipalities of the Free State of Bavaria as elections of the municipal and district assemblies as well as in the majority of municipalities and districts as elections of the (Lord)Mayors and district administrators. In the bodies where none of the candidates achieved more than 50%, a runoff between the two leading candidates was held again on March 29. The terms of office of the elected began on May 1, 2020.

Contents

In total, around 39,500 mandates were to be filled in the 71 districts, 25 independent cities and over 2,000 municipalities of Bavaria. The municipal representatives are elected every six years in general elections according to the Bavarian municipal election law in a combination of cumulating and panachage, with each voter generally having as many votes as there are municipal council and district council seats to be allocated. [1]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, precautionary measures were taken at the local elections, which in the opinion of some election helpers were insufficient. It was also criticized that the elections were held at all. [2] The Christian Social Union achieved their worst ever results in the history of the state, and the Social Democratic Party also suffered heavy losses. The Greens gained many votes and became the second biggest party, but far behind what was expected. [3]

Interest in the election

Interest in the Bavarian local election was extraordinarily high. 79% of the surveyed citizens indicated a strong or even very strong interest in a poll, 9% more compared to the 2014 election. [4] Voter turnout increased to 58.8%. [5]

Changes in electoral law

In the 2020 local election, the count was carried out for the first time using the Sainte-Laguë method, which replaced the Hare/Niemeyer method in force since 2013. Here, the votes of the parties are divided by a certain number, the divisor, which must be newly determined for each election. The number of mandates for each party is determined from the rounded results. It is considered the counting method in which the least disadvantages occur for large as well as small parties. The CSU had advocated for counting according to the D'Hondt method, which disadvantages small parties. [6] [7]

The new Bavarian municipal electoral law also abolished list connections. In return, multiple lists from individual parties may be registered for election under certain conditions. [8]

COVID-19 and postal voting

Postal voting was also, but not solely, used more intensively on March 15, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bavaria. [9]

On March 29, 2020, the necessary runoffs were conducted as pure postal votes following a change in the law. [10] The documents were automatically sent to the eligible voters. [11] [12]

Against this background, Landtag Vice-President Markus Rinderspacher (SPD) proposed to proceed in the same way for future Landtag and Bundestag elections; polling stations should be abolished. [13] [14] In view of increasing mobility, this is a "contemporary, citizen-friendly and sensible voting option." [15] [16] [17]

The counting of votes took longer than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as many election helpers reported sick at short notice or stayed at home as a precaution. In Munich, Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter therefore obliged tenured teachers to help with the counting. [18]

Results

City councils of independent cities and district councils of districts

City councils
City CSU Grüne SPD FW AfD ÖDP FDP Linke Others
Munich 24.729.122.02.53.94.03.53.37.1
Nuremberg 31.320.025.72.85.72.32.13.96.1
Augsburg 32.323.414.34.56.62.22.33.710.8
Regensburg 25.721.712.25.94.57.23.33.016.6
Ingolstadt 26.815.217.57.97.64.13.54.412.9
Würzburg 29.332.59.23.83.93.55.312.6
Fürth 18.720.042.74.15.92.56.1
Erlangen 30.222.421.73.75.74.03.88.5
Bamberg 22.827.016.23.44.82.22.83.617.2
Bayreuth 24.118.017.73.95.31.729.3
Aschaffenburg 30.420.927.15.44.65.16.6
Landshut 22.025.48.010.85.84.76.52.614.3
Kempten 26.519.29.221.86.84.34.71.06.6
Rosenheim 36.425.012.410.66.22.22.73.21.2
Schweinfurt 38.214.217.67.28.43.22.66.02.8

The CSU remained by far the strongest party, but had to accept significant losses and achieved one of the worst results in state history with just over 34 percent. The Greens once again improved on their record result already achieved in 2014 and became the second strongest force in the Free State with over 17%. In contrast, the SPD experienced another slump after its negative record in 2014 and ended up with just under 14 percent. Strong changes were recorded in the results for joint electoral proposals and voter groups. The vast majority (7.9%) of the joint electoral proposals were lists put forward by the Free Voters and previously independently running Free Voter communities and other voter groups. In the calculation, the difference to 2014 is therefore rather small. The AfD ran in most districts and independent cities in 2020 and was thus able to improve its result. Among the other parties, The Left is subsumed in the bar chart, among others, which ran for more bodies and achieved a result of 1.5%. Losses were suffered by the Bavaria Party, the Pirate Party, which only ran independently in Hof, and The Republicans, who still won two mandates. Newly running parties include Die PARTEI, Volt and the V-Partei³, which entered the city councils or district councils for which they ran in isolated cases. The Franks achieved one seat in Hof. In Erlangen and Kempten, so-called Klimaliste ran for the first time, with this movement originating in Erlangen. In both cities, they entered the city council with two mandates each.

Mayors and district administrators

Mayors
CityElected mayorPartyResult
1st round2nd round
Munich Dieter Reiter SPD 47.9%71.7%
Nuremberg Marcus König  [ de ] CSU 36.5%52.2%
Augsburg Eva Weber  [ de ] CSU 43.1%62.3%
Regensburg Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer  [ de ] SPD 22.2%50.8%
Ingolstadt Christian Scharpf  [ de ] SPD 33.7%59.3%
Würzburg Christian Schuchardt  [ de ] CSU 52.0%
Fürth Thomas Jung  [ de ] SPD 73.0%
Erlangen Florian Janik SPD 39.2%54.5%
Bamberg Andreas Starke  [ de ] SPD 35.9%59.3%
Bayreuth Thomas Ebersberger  [ de ] CSU 26.0%52.6%
Aschaffenburg Jürgen Herzing  [ de ] SPD 47.9%66.6%
Landshut Alexander Putz  [ de ] FDP 45.5%70.4%
Kempten Thomas Kiechle  [ de ] CSU 54.3%
Rosenheim Andreas März  [ de ] CSU 45.6%61.5%
Schweinfurt Sebastian Remelé  [ de ] CSU 58.4%

Chief administrative (Landrat)

Mayors
CityElected mayorPartyRunoff
Aichach-Friedberg Klaus Metzger CSU
Altötting Erwin Schneider CSU
Amberg-Sulzbach Richard Reisinger CSU
Ansbach Jürgen Ludwig CSU yes
Aschaffenburg Alexander Legler CSU
Augsburg Martin Sailer CSU
Bad Kissingen Thomas Bold CSU
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Josef Niedermaier Free Voters yes
Bamberg Johann Kalb CSU yes
Bayreuth Florian Wiedemann FWG yes
Berchtesgadener Land Bernhard Kern CSU yes
Cham Franz Löffler CSU
Coburg
Dachau Stefan Löwl CSU
Deggendorf Christian Bernreiter CSU
Dillingen an der Donau
Dingolfing-Landau Werner Bumeder CSU/JBL
Donau-Ries Stefan Rößle CSU/AL/JB
Ebersberg Robert Niedergesäß CSU
Eichstätt Alexander Anetsberger CSU yes
Erding Martin Bayerstorfer CSU yes
Erlangen-Höchstadt Alexander Tritthart CSU
Forchheim Hermann Ulm CSU
Freising Helmut Petz Free Voters yes
Freyung-Grafenau Sebastian Gruber CSU
Fürstenfeldbruck Thomas Karmasin CSU
Fürth Matthias Dießl CSU
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Anton Speer Free Voters
Günzburg Hans Reichhart CSU/Free Voters/JU
Haßberge Wilhelm Schneider CSU
Hof Oliver Bär CSU
Kelheim Martin Neumeyer CSU
Kitzingen Tamara Bischof Free Voters
Kronach
Kulmbach Klaus Peter Söllner Free Voters /WGK/CSU/FDP
Landsberg am Lech Thomas Eichinger CSU
Landshut Peter Dreier Free Voters
Lichtenfels
Lindau (Bodensee) Elmar Stegmann CSU
Main-Spessart Sabine Sitter CSU yes
Miesbach Olaf von Löwis CSU yes
Miltenberg Jens Marco Scherf Greens
Mühldorf am Inn Maximilian Heimerl CSU
München Christoph Göbel CSU yes
Neu-Ulm Thorsten Freudenberger CSU/JU
Neuburg-Schrobenhausen
Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz Willibald Gailler CSU
Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim Helmut Weiß CSU
Neustadt an der Waldnaab Andreas Meier CSU
Nürnberger Land Armin Kroder Free Voters
Oberallgäu Indra Baier-Müller Free Voters/Free Voters Oberallgäuyes
Ostallgäu Maria Rita Zinnecker CSU
Passau Raimund Kneidinger CSU/BU
Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm Albert Gürtner Free Voters yes
Regen
Regensburg Tanja Schweiger Free Voters
Rhön-Grabfeld Thomas Habermann CSU
Rosenheim Otto Lederer CSU yes
Roth
Rottal-Inn Michael Fahmüller CSU
Schwandorf Thomas Ebeling CSU
Schweinfurt Florian Töpper SPD
Starnberg Stefan Frey CSU yes
Straubing-Bogen Josef Laumer CSU
Tirschenreuth Roland Grillmeier CSU
Traunstein Siegfried Walch CSU/BP/JL
Unterallgäu Alex Eder Free Voters yes
Weilheim-Schongau Andrea Jochner-Weiß CSU yes
Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen Manuel Westphal CSU
Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge Peter Berek CSU
Würzburg Thomas Eberth CSU yes

*Re-elected highlighted in color

Wherever none of the candidates received more than half of the votes in the first round, a runoff took place on March 29, 2020. According to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, this was the case in 750 municipalities, cities and districts, including the five largest Bavarian cities of Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Regensburg and Ingolstadt. Due to the COVID crisis, eligible voters could only participate in this runoff exclusively by postal voting.

Mandates by parties

The following table provides information on how many mandates the respective parties received in the district councils or city councils of the independent cities. In parentheses is the change compared to the 2014 local election. In addition, the total number of mandates won is given.

CSU/JUGreensFree VotersSPDAfDÖDPFDPLeftOthers
District councils1,633 (-187)665 (+223)749 (-2)520 (-263)202 (+200)143 (+4)121 (+8)48 (+41)289 (-34)
City councils of independent cities347 (-68)224 (+91)84 (-3)208 (-94)56 (+50)40 (+6)38 (+3)37 (+14)109 (0)
Total1,980 (-255)889 (+314)833 (-5)728 (-357)258 (+250)183 (+10)159 (+11)85 (+55)398 (-34)

References

  1. In municipalities with up to 3,000 inhabitants, up to twice as many votes can be cast as candidates are to be elected in total.
  2. "Kritik an Kommunalwahl während Corona-Pandemie | BR24". 2020-03-16. Archived from the original on 2020-03-16. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  3. Kommunalwahl am 15.03.2020: Wahl der Stadträte und Kreistage
  4. Bayerischer Rundfunk: Umfrage ergibt 79 % der befragten Bürger mit starkem oder sehr starkem Interesse, 14. März 2020.
  5. www.kommunalwahl2020.bayern.de
  6. "Wie im Bund: Neues Wahlrecht für Bayerns Kommunen". nordbayern.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2019-07-20. Retrieved 2025-09-22.
  7. "So funktioniert das Auszählungsverfahren bei der Kommunalwahl 2020". www.nordbayern.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-09-22.
  8. "Landtag erlässt neues Kommunalwahlrecht | Bayerischer Landtag". Archived from the original on 2020-01-12.
  9. Kommunalwahl: Wohl Briefwahl-Rekord in Ostbayern, auf br.de.
  10. Grüne sind große Verlierer bei Wahlen in Bayern: Stichwahl in Kommunen wegen Coronavirus nur als Briefwahl, tagesspiegel.de, 16. März 2020.
  11. Münchner Merkur Online vom 16. März 2020.
  12. Art. 60a GLKrWG, Art. 9a Abs. 2 BayIfSG
  13. Stichwahl im Zeichen von Corona: Eine reine Briefwahl, sueddeutsche.de, 29. März 2020
  14. Rinderspacher: Deutschland sollte ganz auf Briefwahl umstellen, merkur.de, 29. März 2020.
  15. "Wirren der Stichwahl in Bayern: Spaenle feiert wohl doch noch Comeback - Gemeinde übersieht 340 Wahlbriefe". www.tz.de (in German). 2020-04-01. Retrieved 2025-09-22.
  16. "Landtags-Vize Rinderspacher will nur noch Briefwahl". BR24 (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-04-20. Retrieved 2025-09-22.
  17. "Kommunalwahlen: Wählen wir bald nur noch per Brief?". BR24 (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2025-09-22.
  18. Finkenzeller, Karin (2020-03-16). "Kommunalwahl in Bayern: Siegen in Zeiten von Corona". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN   0044-2070 . Retrieved 2025-09-22.