2003 Bavarian state election

2003 Bavarian state election

← 1998 21 September 2003 2008 →

All 180 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria
91 seats needed for a majority
Turnout10,248,735 (57.1%)
Decrease 12.7%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Edmund Stoiber Franz Maget Sepp Daxenberger
Party CSU SPD Greens
Last election 123 seats, 52.9% 67 seats, 28.7% 14 seats, 5.7%
Seats won 124 41 15
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 26 Increase 1
Popular vote 6,217,864 2,012,265 793,050
Percentage 60.7% 19.6% 7.7%
Swing Increase 7.8% Decrease 9.1% Increase 2.1%

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Minister-President before election

Edmund Stoiber
CSU

Elected Minister-President

Edmund Stoiber
CSU

The 2003 Bavarian state election was held on 21 September 2003 to elect the members to the 15th Landtag of Bavaria. The Christian Social Union (CSU) led by Minister-President Edmund Stoiber achieved the largest majority in German history, winning 69% of the seats in the Landtag. This election was the first and to date only time a single party won a two-thirds supermajority of seats in any German state parliament. The CSU also won its largest proportion of the popular vote since 1974, at 60.7%.

The election was marked by a major decline in turnout, falling by almost 13 points to 57%. As a result, despite achieving its best result in decades, the CSU won 230,000 votes fewer than it had in the 1998 election.