The 2002 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 22 September 2002 to elect the members of the 4th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It was held on the same day as the 2002 federal election. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) led by Minister-President Harald Ringstorff retained its majority and continued in office.
Campaign and issues The election was the first time that a "red-red" SPD–PDS government faced an election. It was held at the same day as the 2002 federal election, and the campaigns of the state parties were highly influenced by the issues in the federal politics.
Parties The table below lists parties represented in the 3rd Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Name Ideology Leader(s) 1998 result Votes (%) Seats SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany Social democracy Harald Ringstorff 34.3% CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christian democracy Eckhardt Rehberg 30.2% PDS Party of Democratic Socialism Democratic socialism Angelika Gramkow 24.4%
Opinion polling Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize SPD CDU PDS Grüne FDP Others Lead 2002 state election 22 Sep 2002 – 40.6 31.4 16.4 2.6 3.7 4.3 9.2 Emnid 16 Sep 2002 ? 37 33 19 3 3 5 4 Infratest dimap 12 Sep 2002 1,000 40 33 17 2 4 4 7 Emnid 9 Sep 2002 ? 37 34 18 3 4 4 3 Infratest dimap 4 Sep 2002 ? 37 35 18.5 2 4.5 3 2 Emnid 2 Sep 2002 750 37 36 17 3 3 4 1 Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 1 Sep 2002 1,000 38 33 18 4 4 3 5 Infratest dimap 28 Aug 2002 1,000 36 33 20 2 4 5 3 Emnid 26 Aug 2002 ? 35 38 15 3 4 5 3 Emnid 19 Aug 2002 ? 32 38 18 3 5 4 6 Emnid 12 Aug 2002 ? 33 39 18 3 5 2 6 Emnid 2 Aug 2002 750 32 39 19 3 5 2 7 Infratest dimap 3 Jul 2002 ? 35 36 20 1 5 3 1 Emnid 22 Jun 2002 ? 30 38 18 3 7 4 8 Emnid 23 May 2002 ? 30 41 19 1 4 5 11 Emnid 29 Jan 2002 ? 32 39 17 1 3 8 7 Infratest dimap 24 Jan 2002 ? 29 37 23 2 3 6 8 Emnid 3 Nov 2001 ? 32 32 24 3 4 5 Tie Emnid 16 May 2001 ? 32 35 21 3 5 4 3 Infratest dimap 18–24 Sep 2000 1,000 32 36 24 – – ? 4 Emnid 13–18 Sep 1999 750 26 42 24 – – ? 16 Infratest dimap 11–21 Feb 1999 912 38 37 17 – – 8 1 1998 state election 27 Sep 1998 – 34.3 30.2 24.4 2.7 1.6 6.8 4.1
Election result
| colspan=8 | |- ! colspan="2" | Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | align=right| 394,118 | align=right| 40.6 | align=right| 6.3 | align=right| 33 | align=right| 6 | align=right| 46.5 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | align=right| 304,125 | align=right| 31.4 | align=right| 1.2 | align=right| 25 | align=right| 1 | align=right| 35.2 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) | align=right| 159,065 | align=right| 16.4 | align=right| 8.0 | align=right| 13 | align=right| 7 | align=right| 18.3 |- ! colspan=8| |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | align=right| 45,676 | align=right| 4.7 | align=right| 3.1 | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | align=right| 25,402 | align=right| 2.6 | align=right| 0.1 | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=#63B8FF| | align=left | Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Schill party) | align=right| 16,483 | align=right| 1.7 | align=right| New | align=right| 0 | align=right| New | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Others | align=right| 25,162 | align=right| 2.6 | align=right| | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- ! align=right colspan=2| Total ! align=right| 970,031 ! align=right| 100.0 ! align=right| ! align=right| 71 ! align=right| ±0 ! align=right| |- ! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout ! align=right| ! align=right| 70.6 ! align=right| 8.6 ! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right|
Sources The Federal Returning Officer