2026 Berlin state election

2026 Berlin state election

←  2023 20 September 2026 2031 →

←  outgoing members

First party Second party Third party   Party CDU SPD Greens Last election 52 seats, 28.2% 34 seats, 18.4% 34 seats, 18.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Left AfD BSW Last election 22 seats, 12.2% 17 seats, 9.1% 0 seats, 0%

Government before election Wegner senate CDU–SPD Elected Government TBD

The next election to the 20th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin is scheduled for 20 September 2026 for a legislative period of five years. Due to the repeat election for the Berlin Abgeordnetenhaus in 2023, in which members were elected only for the remainder of the 19th legislative period, the original 2021 election date remained decisive for determining the timing of the next regular election.

Election date

Unless the parliament decides to dissolve earlier, the election for the 20th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin will take place on 20 September 2026. Article 54 of the Berlin Constitution stipulates that a regular election must occur no earlier than 56 months and no later than 59 months after the start of the Abgeordnetenhaus's legislative period. ^[1] The 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin was constituted on November 4, 2021. ^{[2] [3]}

Electoral system

The Abgeordnetenhaus is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 78 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 52 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 Abgeordnetenhaus is 130 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 Abgeordnetenhaus; parties that fall below this threshold are excluded from the Abgeordnetenhaus. However, parties which win at least one single-member constituency are exempt from the threshold and will be allocated seats proportionally, even if they fall below 5%. ^[4]

Background

In the 2023 Berlin repeat state election With 28% of votes, the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) grew by over ten percentage points and emerged as the largest party by a wide margin, the first time it had done so since 1999. All three governing parties declined; the SPD suffered its worst result in over a century with 18.4%, and only barely remained ahead of the Greens by a margin of 53 votes. The Left also slipped to 12%. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) recorded a small upswing to 9%, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) fell to 4.6% and lost all their seats. Overall, the incumbent government retained a reduced majority. The CDU claimed a mandate to govern given its first-place result, while mayor Franziska Giffey committed to remaining in government. The Left called for a renewal of the outgoing coalition. ^[5]

After various talks between parties, the SPD and CDU voted at the beginning of March to begin negotiations for a grand coalition. CDU leader Kai Wegner was approved as mayor on 27 April after three rounds of voting. ^{[6] [7]}

Parties

The table below lists parties previously represented in the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.

Name			Ideology	2023 result
				Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	28.2%	52 / 147
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	18.4%	35 / 147
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	18.4%	34 / 147
	Linke	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism	12.2%	20 / 147
	AfD	Alternative for Germany Alternative für Deutschland	Right-wing populism	9.1%	16 / 147

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	Linke	AfD	FDP	BSW	Others	Lead
Infratest dimap	12–16 Jun 2025	1,148	25	14	15	19	13	–	4	10	6
INSA	13–20 May 2025	1,000	24	17	15	13	13	3	7	8	7
Federal Parliament Election	23 Feb 2025	–	18.3	15.1	16.8	19.9	15.2	3.8	6.6	4.2	1.6
Infratest dimap	14–18 Nov 2024	1,179	27	12	20	6	15	4	7	9	7
INSA	1–7 Jul 2024	1,000	26	18	15	7	12	4	12	6	8
European Parliament election	9 Jun 2024	–	17.6	13.2	19.6	7.3	11.6	4.3	8.7	17.7	2.0
Infratest dimap	18–22 Apr 2024	1,174	27	15	20	10	12	3	6	7	7
INSA	22–29 Jan 2024	1,000	29	16	17	10	13	4	–	11	12
Infratest dimap	12–16 Oct 2023	1,159	29	15	19	10	15	4	–	8	10
INSA	18–26 Sep 2023	1,000	26	17	18	10	14	5	–	10	8
Wahlkreisprognose	25 Jul – 2 Aug 2023	1,000	24.5	16	16.5	13.5	16	4	–	9.5	8
INSA	27 Mar – 3 Apr 2023	1,000	30	18	18	11	9	5	–	9	12
2023 state election	12 Feb 2023	N/A	28.2	18.4	18.4	12.2	9.1	4.6	–	9.0	9.8

West Berlin

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	Linke	AfD	FDP	Others	Lead
Infratest dimap	12–16 Oct 2023	–	31	17	20	8	13	4	7	11
2023 state election	12 Feb 2023	–	31.1	19.9	19.8	9.0	6.8	7.0	6.4	11.2

East Berlin

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	Linke	SPD	Grüne	AfD	FDP	Others	Lead
Infratest dimap	12–16 Oct 2023	–	26	12	14	18	17	3	10	8
2023 state election	12 Feb 2023	–	24.3	16.6	16.4	16.4	12.2	3.7	10.4	0.2

References

1. "Verfassung von Berlin - Abschnitt III: Die Volksvertretung". www.berlin.de (in German). 3 January 2024. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
2. "Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus konstituiert sich". www.rbb24.de (in German). 5 November 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
3. "Abgeordnetenhaus: Berliner Wahl wohl am 20. September 2026". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN   1865-2263 . Retrieved 8 August 2025.
4. "Elections". Berlin.de (in German). 19 January 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
5. "Berlin: Conservatives projected to win repeated vote". Deutsche Welle . 13 February 2023.
6. "CDU board votes for coalition negotiations with SPD". Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2 March 2023.
7. "Ex-insurance salesman elected unlikely mayor of Berlin". France 24. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.