2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election

2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election

←  2021 6 September 2026 Next →
97 seats in the current Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt (83 plus overhang and leveling seats) 44 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party CDU AfD Left Last election 40 seats, 37.1% 23 seats, 20.8% 12 seats, 11.0%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party SPD FDP Greens Last election 9 seats, 8.4% 7 seats, 6.4% 6 seats, 5.9%
Government before election Third Haseloff cabinet CDU–SPD–FDP Government after election TBD

The 2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election to elect the 9th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt will be held no later than 6 September 2026. ^[1]

Election date

According to Article 43 of the State Constitution, the state election must take place between the 58th and 62nd month after the start of the legislative period, unless the period is terminated early. The legislative period of the state parliament elected on 6 June 2021 began with its first session on 6 July 2021. Consequently, possible election dates initially included all Sundays and public holidays between 10 May and 6 September 2026. In May 2025, the state parliament designated 6 September 2026, thus the last possible day, as the election date. ^[1]

Electoral System

The State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt consists of at least 83 members, though this number may increase due to overhang and compensatory mandates. Of these, 41 members are directly elected in constituencies, while the remaining seats are allocated to parties based on their state lists. Each voter has two votes: a first vote (Erststimme) to elect a constituency representative and a second vote (Zweitstimme) to select a party’s state list, which determines the proportional distribution of seats in the parliament. The allocation of seats is governed by the Hare/Niemeyer method, with only parties receiving at least 5% of the valid second votes considered for proportional distribution. The State Election Committee oversees the process, first determining the total second votes cast for each state list. Seats are then distributed as follows:

1. The committee identifies the number of seats won by independent constituency candidates and by parties that fail to meet the 5% threshold. These are subtracted from the base number of 83 seats to calculate the seats available for proportional allocation.
2. The remaining seats are distributed among qualifying parties based on their second vote totals. Each party’s share is calculated by multiplying the total remaining seats by the party’s second votes, divided by the total second votes of all qualifying parties. Whole seats are assigned first, and any remaining seats are allocated based on the highest fractional remainders. In case of ties, a lottery conducted by the State Election Officer decides.
3. If a party with over half of the second votes receives less than half of the available seats, it is awarded an additional seat before further distribution.
4. Seats won in constituencies are deducted from a party’s total allocated seats, with the remainder filled from the party’s state list in the order specified. Candidates already elected in constituencies are excluded from the state list allocation.
5. Overhang mandates occur when a party wins more constituency seats than its proportional share. In such cases, the total number of parliamentary seats increases by twice the number of overhang seats, and the distribution process is repeated. If overhang seats persist, they are retained by the party, and the total number of seats is adjusted accordingly. This process continues until the overhang seats no longer exceed half the number required to form a parliamentary group, calculated as the seats a hypothetical party with 5% of second votes would receive.
6. Non-elected candidates on state lists of parties securing at least one seat are designated as substitutes in the order determined by the State Election Committee, excluding those already elected in constituencies. The election adheres to the provisions of the Saxony-Anhalt Election Law (Landeswahlgesetz, LWG), as published on 18 February 2010, and the state’s electoral regulations. This system ensures a balance between direct constituency representation and proportional party representation, with mechanisms to address disparities caused by overhang mandates while maintaining fair seat allocation. ^[2]

2021 results

Saxony-Anhalt state election polls since 2022

In the 2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emerged again as the strongest party. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) experienced slight losses but remained the second-largest force. Contrary to pre-election predictions of a tight race between the CDU and AfD, the CDU secured a 16-percentage-point lead over the AfD.

The Left Party (Die Linke) also recorded losses, achieving 11% of the vote. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) suffered its worst result in Saxony-Anhalt's history. The Free Democratic Party (FDP), with 6.4% of the vote, returned to the state parliament after a decade-long absence. The Greens secured 5.9%, narrowly retaining their parliamentary representation.

Following the election, due to a fragile 49/97 majority "Grand Coalition" between the CDU and SPD alone, the FDP was included, and the CDU, SPD, and FDP formed a black-red-yellow coalition, with same political colors as in the German flag, thus known as the "Germany Coalition", and consisting of all the three factions that were represented in the West-Germany-only Bundestag from 1961 to 1983.

Reiner Haseloff (CDU) was re-elected as Minister-President and head of the state government, though he secured a majority of votes only in the second ballot. The coalition government holds a clear majority in the state parliament, commanding 56 of the 97 seats.

Parties

#	Name			Ideology	2021 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
1		CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	37.1%	40 / 97
2		AfD	Alternative for Germany Alternative für Deutschland	Right-wing populism	20.8%	23 / 97
3		Left	Die Linke Die Linke	Left-wing populism	11.0%	12 / 97
4		SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	8.4%	9 / 97
5		FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	6.4%	7 / 97
6		Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	5.9%	6 / 97

Opinion polls etc.

Since the June 2021 state election, there were the September 2021 and February 2025 German federal elections, with polls for the Next German federal election being more frequent than on state level.

The Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) split from the Left in late 2023, and was third strongest party on state level in the 2024 European election, but it narrowly failed to enter the Bundestag in the 2025 federal snap election. The FDP dropped out also, and polls well under the 5% threshold nationwide and in Saxony-Anhalt.

Reiner Haseloff announced on 7 August 2025 that he will not run anymore in 2026.

With only three very different parties polling above 10% for a year now, and possibly all others failing to enter the parliament, chances are that the CDU will be forced into a first time coalition with the Left to keep the AfD out, according to "Firewall against the far-right in Germany" (Brandmauer) policy. On the other hand, the AfD might not only be able to be part of a government for the first time, but even as a one party government, which is rather unusual in modern Germany, see de:Alleinregierung for examples.

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	AfD	Linke	SPD	FDP	Grüne	BSW	Others	Lead
Infratest dimap	28 Aug – 2 Sep 2025	1,167	27	39	13	7	–	3	6	5	12
INSA	10–17 Jun 2025	1,000	34	30	11	7	2	3	8	5	4
Federal election	23 Feb 2025	–	19.2	37.1	10.8	11.0	3.1	4.4	11.2	3.3	17.9
INSA	8–13 Jan 2025	1,000	32	31	4	8	4	3	14	4	1
INSA	21–28 Oct 2024	1,000	32	30	3	7	4	3	16	5	2
INSA	24 Jun – 5 Jul 2024	1,000	29	29	4	8	4	4	16	6	Tie
INSA	3–11 Jun 2024	1,000	31	30	5	7	4	4	13	6	1
EP election	9 Jun 2024	–	22.8	30.5	4.8	8.7	2.5	3.9	15.0	11.8	7.7
INSA	10–17 Apr 2024	1,000	32	29	5	8	4	5	10	7	3
Wahlkreisprognose	21–29 Jan 2024	1,000	28.5	27.5	3.5	4.5	4	4.5	23	4.5	1
			34.5	32.5	6	5	7	5.5	–	9.5	2
INSA	16–23 Oct 2023	1,000	32	33	9	8	4	5	–	9	1
INSA	21–26 Jun 2023	1,000	31	29	9	9	6	6	–	10	2
Wahlkreisprognose	16–28 May 2023	732	37	26	10	12	6	4	–	5	11
INSA	6–13 Mar 2023	1,000	35	26	11	8	6	7	–	7	9
Wahlkreisprognose	6–13 Jan 2023	982	31.5	26	10	13	4.5	4.5	–	10.5	5.5
Wahlkreisprognose	7–15 Jun 2022	1,000	33	23	9	15	5	6	–	9	10
Infratest dimap	17–22 Feb 2022	1,161	33	20	11	16	6	5	–	9	13
Wahlkreisprognose	13–21 Feb 2022	1,005	33	20	9	19	6.5	5	–	7.5	13
2021 federal election	26 Sep 2021	–	21.0	19.6	9.6	25.4	9.5	6.5	–	8.4	4.4
2021 state election	6 Jun 2021	–	37.1	20.8	11.0	8.4	6.4	5.9	–	10.4	16.3

References

1. mdr.de. "Landtagswahl 2026 in Sachsen-Anhalt: Termin steht | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 14 August 2025.
2. "Landesrecht Sachsen-Anhalt". www.landesrecht.sachsen-anhalt.de. Retrieved 14 August 2025.