State election in North Rhine-Westphalia 2012

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2010State election 20122017
(Second votes)
 %
40
30th
20th
10
0
39.1
26.3
11.3
8.6
7.8
2.5
1.5
2.9
Gains and losses
compared to 2010
 % p
   8th
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
-10
+4.6
-8.3
-0.8
+1.9
+6.3
-3.1
+0.1
-0.6
     
A total of 237 seats

The election to the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia for the 16th electoral period took place as an early election on May 13, 2012. The red-green coalition of the SPD and the Greens , which had previously formed a minority government under the leadership of Hannelore Kraft , won the majority. The CDU , however, achieved its worst result in North Rhine-Westphalia since 1947. While the FDP made it into the state parliament, Die Linke clearly missed it. The pirate party was represented for the first time in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament.

initial situation

In the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2010 , the CDU emerged as the strongest party with 34.6 percent, despite heavy losses. The SPD came to 34.5 percent. The Greens significantly increased their share of the vote to 12.1 percent of the vote. The FDP achieved 6.7 percent of the vote with slight gains. The left moved into the state parliament for the first time with 5.6 percent. The CDU and SPD each won 67 of the 181 state parliament mandates, Alliance 90 / The Greens won 23, the FDP 13 and Die Linke 11. The previous CDU / FDP coalition lost its government majority in the state parliament. After lengthy exploratory talks, the SPD and the Greens formed a red-green state government under the leadership of Hannelore Kraft (SPD) without a majority in the state parliament . To pass laws, the state government was therefore always dependent on votes from another parliamentary group in the state parliament.

The groundbreaking decisions that were brought about in a compromise between government factions and the opposition CDU are an agreement on school peace , which laid down the school structure in North Rhine-Westphalia for twelve years, and the agreements (negotiated jointly by the government factions and the FDP) to reform the Financing of the municipalities of the state (“Strengthening Pact City Finances”).

During the legislative period there were several speculations about new elections or a new government. For the first time they came up after failed attempts to form a majority government. The possibility of new elections was discussed again when the Constitutional Court declared the submitted supplementary budget for 2010 to be invalid in a previously unique process because the new debt had exceeded the amount of the investments.

On March 14, 2012, section 03 ( Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs ) of the budget submitted by the state government was rejected with 91 votes from the opposition parties. In the opinion of lawyers in the Landtag administration, the budget was therefore considered rejected overall; this view was controversial among lawyers. As a result, the state parliament dissolved unanimously on the same day. The main committee exercised the rights of the state parliament until the new state parliament met; Kraft and the red-green cabinet remained in office until a new prime minister was elected.

Election date

The state elections took place on May 13, 2012 and, as always since 1975, on a Sunday in May. Together with the elections in Saarland on March 25, 2012 and Schleswig-Holstein on May 6, 2012, three early elections were held in 2012 in German states.

Since the state parliament, after the unanimous resolution of its members, dissolved before the end of the 15th electoral period, which would have ended according to the state constitution on June 8, 2015, according to Art Election period and on a Sunday or a public holiday within sixty days after the dissolution of the state assembly.

Since the period for submitting the nominations according to Section 19 (1) and Section 20 (2) of the State Election Act was very short, the Minister of the Interior had ordered, in accordance with Section 46 (5) of the State Election Act, that the nominations should be submitted no later than 33 instead of 48 as in a regular election Had to be submitted days before the election.

Electoral system

At least 181 seats are filled in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament ; The number of seats increased to 237 in 2012 due to overhang and compensatory mandates.

The members of the state parliament are elected in general, equal, direct, secret and free elections. The state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia is elected according to a system of personalized proportional representation with closed lists, which is similar to the federal election law . The state parliament has at least 181 members, 128 of whom are directly elected in each constituency by means of a first vote. The applicant with the most votes is elected. The seats in the state parliament are distributed proportionally to the parties according to the number of their second votes in the state according to the Sainte-Laguë procedure . Overhang mandates are balanced out by compensatory mandates , so that a composition of the state parliament that is proportional to the share of second votes is practically always ensured.

Parties and candidates

Country lists

The state lists of the following parties have been approved:

Political party Abbreviation Number of direct candidates Members Result 2010 Top candidate
Christian Democratic Union of Germany CDU 128 152.328 34.6% Norbert Röttgen
Social Democratic Party of Germany SPD 128 132,000 34.5% Hannelore Kraft
Alliance 90 / The Greens Green 128 12,600 12.1% Sylvia Löhrmann
Free Democratic Party FDP 128 16,000 6.7% Christian Lindner
The left The left 127 8,000 5.6% Katharina Schwabedissen
Pirate party Pirates 128 5,006 1.6% Joachim Paul
Citizens' movement for North Rhine-Westphalia per NRW 0 900 1.4% Markus Beisicht
National Democratic Party of Germany NPD 0 750 0.7% Claus Cremer
Human Environment Animal Welfare The animal welfare party 0 180 0.6% Michael Siethoff
Family party of Germany family 2 100 0.4% Maria Hartmann
Alliance for Innovation & Justice BIG 0 400 0.2% Haluk Yildiz
Party for work, the rule of law, animal welfare, elite support and grassroots initiative The party 14th 1,700 0.1% Mark Benecke
Ecological Democratic Party ÖDP 3 463 0.1% Gerd Kersting
Free Citizens' Initiative / Free Voters FBI / Free Voters 4th 550 0.1% Hans Josef Tegethoff
AUF - Party for Work, Environment and Family - Christians for Germany ON 5 50 0.1% Horst Schulze
Free voters North Rhine-Westphalia Free voters 20th 181 not started Rudiger Krentz
Party of reason 0 118 not started Dieter Audehm

State lists had to be submitted by April 10, 2012. Parties that were not represented in the last state parliament or in the Bundestag due to an election proposal from the state had to submit 1000 support signatures for the approval of their state list. The decision on the approval of the state lists was made by the electoral committee on April 14, 2012. Because the minimum number of valid support signatures was not reached, the electoral committee rejected the state lists of the parties From now ... Alliance for Germany , for democracy through referendum, German Democratic Party , Party of Biblical Christians and Social justice - from North Rhine-Westphalia .

Further district election proposals

The district election proposals of the following further parties and groups of voters whose state list was not up for election, as well as the following individual applicants were allowed to vote:

To allow a direct candidate in the constituency, the parties that were not represented in the last Landtag or in the Bundestag based on an election proposal from the state, groups of voters or individual applicants had to collect 100 support signatures from eligible voters in the respective constituency.

Top candidates

The federal environment minister and state chairman of the NRW CDU Norbert Röttgen was elected to first place on the state list by his party with 96.5 percent of the delegate votes. Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft was elected the SPD's top candidate with 99.3 percent. Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen elected Deputy Prime Minister Sylvia Löhrmann as the top candidate with 98.4 percent. The FDP state association in North Rhine-Westphalia elected the member of the Bundestag and former general secretary of the federal FDP Christian Lindner at number 1 on the state list of the FDP. On May 6, 2012, Lindner was elected as the successor to Federal Health Minister Daniel Bahr as chairman of the FDP regional association in North Rhine-Westphalia. The left elected Katharina Schwabedissen as the top candidate. The pirates chose Joachim Paul as their top candidate.

Election campaign

Campaign issues

Campaign appearance by Sylvia Löhrmann and Hannelore Kraft
  • Personal details: Norbert Röttgen was also criticized from within his own camp because during the election campaign he signaled no willingness to become opposition leader in the state parliament after an election defeat and to resign from his office as federal minister at the latest after the election. Federal Minister Norbert Blüm , who lost the state election in 1990 with a similar stance, was remembered .
  • Financial policy : Immediately after the dissolution of the state parliament, the CDU began to focus on the topic of solid state finances as an election campaign issue. The level of the country's new debt was criticized . Hannelore Kraft pointed out that the country tends to be average in terms of new per capita borrowing compared to other countries and that her policy approach of “ preventive social policy ” contributes to budget consolidation in the long term .
  • Local finances : Several local top politicians from the Ruhr area called for a reform of the Solidarity Pact and increased support for structurally weak cities in the Ruhr area. While the SPD supported this demand, the CDU campaigned for the solidarity pact to be continued unchanged.
  • Family policy : the care allowance discussed by the federal government , the introduction of which the representatives of the state government may have to vote on in the Bundesrat , was rejected by the North Rhine-Westphalian SPD, while Norbert Röttgen defended the care allowance because it gives freedom to choose between childcare in a day-care center (Kita ) or at home. The CDU accused the state government of being too hesitant to expand day-care centers and criticized Hannelore Kraft for advocating a “day-care center requirement”. Kraft denied plans for a “day-care center requirement” and blamed the previous government for the below-average number of day-care centers in Germany.
  • Education policy : The issue of school policy did not play a major role in the state election campaign because of the school peace reached by consensus between the SPD, CDU and the Greens .

TV duel

On April 30, 2012, Hannelore Kraft and Norbert Röttgen met for a television duel on WDR television . On May 2, 2012, the top candidates of the parties previously represented in the state parliament and the pirates discussed in an " elephant round " on WDR television .

Wahl-O-Mat

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) and the State Agency for Civic Education North Rhine-Westphalia presented the Wahl-O-Mat for the 2012 state elections, the content of which was developed by an editorial team made up of representatives of the lpb North Rhine-Westphalia. They were advised by the institutional sponsor of the Wahl-O-Mats and several scientists.

Others

The citizens' movement pro NRW had announced that it would exhibit caricatures critical of Islam in front of mosques , including the Mohammed caricatures by Kurt Westergaard . Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich (CSU) expressed fears that there could be escalations between right-wing extremists and Salafists . The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Ralf Jäger instructed the police authorities not to let the demonstrators in the immediate vicinity of the mosques. In May, however, there were violent attacks from the Islamist spectrum on police officers, some of whom were seriously injured.

Survey

Most of the polls predicted a majority for the continuation of the red-green coalition of Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft. The return of the FDP and the left , on the other hand, was uncertain. For the pirates , the polling institutes predict the safe entry into the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament .

Result

First majority
  • SPD
  • CDU
  • The final result of the 2012 state election was announced on May 25, 2012 by the state returning officer.

    • Eligible voters: 13,262,049
    • Voters: 7,901,268
    • Turnout: 59.6%
    • Valid first votes: 7,780,610
    • Valid second votes: 7,793,995

    The valid votes were distributed as follows:

    First votes Second votes
    First
    votes
    absolutely
    Share
    in%
    Electoral
    kreisbe-
    tors
    Direct
    MAN
    date
    Second
    votes
    absolutely
    Share
    in%
    Seats
    SPD 3,290,561 42.3 128 99 3,049,983 39.1 99
    CDU 2,545,309 32.7 128 29 2,050,321 26.3 67
    Green 723.581 9.3 128 884.298 11.3 29
    FDP 372.727 4.8 128 670.082 8.6 22nd
    Pirates 617.926 7.9 128 609.176 7.8 20th
    The left 201,637 2.6 127 194.428 2.5
    per NRW 118,326 1.5
    Animal welfare party 58.091 0.7
    NPD 40.007 0.5
    family 1,722 0.0 2 33,793 0.4
    The party 6,362 0.1 14th 22,915 0.3
    Free voters 10,600 0.1 20th 17,970 0.2
    BIG 10,694 0.1
    ON 2,726 0.0 5 10,217 0.1
    FBI / Free Voters 1,538 0.0 4th 9,496 0.1
    ÖDP 1,336 0.0 3 7,842 0.1
    Party of reason 6,356 0.1
    Referendum 1,087 0.0 4th
    RRP 418 0.0 2
    BüSo 272 0.0 4th
    LD 120 0.0 1
    BGD 83 0.0 1
    Individual applicants 2,605 0.0 7th
    Total 7,780,610 100% 834 128 7,793,995 100% 237

    The turnout of 59.6% was slightly higher than in the previous state election. This turnout was the third lowest of all state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. For the first time since the state elections in 2000, the SPD was able to win more seats than the CDU. The CDU remained well below its worst election result to date - 34.6% of all valid second votes in the 2010 election . The Pirate Party entered the state parliament for the first time with 7.8% of all valid second votes. The left, which was represented in the state parliament for the first time in the 15th electoral term, failed to return.

    Since the SPD won 23 overhang seats , its state list did not initially move . It was only when Karl-Heinz Krems waived his mandate before the constituent meeting that Norbert Römer , the former leader of the SPD parliamentary group, was able to move into parliament and re-elected as chairman of the SPD parliamentary group. The CDU occupies 38 of its 67 mandates through its state list. All other parliamentary groups entering the state parliament fill their mandates exclusively through their state lists. Due to the relatively high number of overhang mandates (23) and the resulting 33 compensation mandates , the 237-seat state parliament in the 16th electoral period is the second largest of all the previous North Rhine-Westphalian state parliaments (the state parliament in the 11th electoral period had 239 seats from 1992). Compared to the Landtag of the last electoral term, the Landtag has grown by 56 seats.

    The desired red-green coalition has 128 seats in the state parliament for the 16th electoral period and thus has 9 seats more than the 119 seats that are necessary for a majority.

    Distribution of seats at the end of the electoral term: SPD 98, CDU 68, Greens 29, FDP 22, Piraten 17, non-attached 3

    Consequences

    Löhrmann and Kraft present the signed coalition agreement on June 18, 2012
    Ballot in the constituency of Bonn II

    The CDU top candidate Norbert Röttgen announced shortly after the polls closed that he would step down as chairman of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia due to the election results . On June 30, 2012, Armin Laschet was elected as the new chairman of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia. On May 30, 2012, Röttgen announced that he was renouncing his state parliament mandate, which he had won through the state list.

    After clear criticism of Norbert Röttgen, u. a. by the Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer , Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the Federal President on May 16, 2012 to dismiss the Federal Environment Minister . On May 22, 2012, the Federal President appointed Peter Altmaier to succeed Norbert Röttgen on the proposal of the Federal Chancellor .

    The constituent session of the state parliament took place on May 31, 2012 and lasted four hours. Carina Gödecke , member of the SPD parliamentary group, which replaced the CDU parliamentary group as the strongest group in the state parliament, was elected president of the state parliament. Gödecke was previously Vice President and took over the office of Eckhard Uhlenberg (CDU).

    On June 12, 2012, Hannelore Kraft and Sylvia Löhrmann presented the coalition agreement of their intended coalition government. On June 20, Hannelore Kraft was re-elected Prime Minister by the state parliament with 137 votes. She received at least nine votes from among the opposition. Several pirates announced that they would vote for Kraft.

    Election analysis

    The performance of the CDU and SPD was largely based on the popularity of the two top candidates. Hannelore Kraft was therefore considered very popular and her work in the previous electoral term was appreciated; Röttgen showed deficits in sympathy, closeness to the citizens and credibility. The majority of voters preferred a continuation of the red-green coalition, which they considered highly competent in the political fields of economy and jobs, but especially in the areas of education, family or social affairs; They only gave the CDU a clear head start when it came to finance. 34 percent of all voters also understood the election in North Rhine-Westphalia as a vote on politics at the federal level. The relatively popular Christian Lindner contributed to the good performance of the FDP . With their election, the voters of the Pirate Party wanted to express their dissatisfaction with other parties. Greens and pirates had high approval rates, especially among young voters, whereas in the CDU, SPD and FDP, the age of the voters correlated positively with the proportion of votes .

    See also

    Web links

    Commons : State election in North Rhine-Westphalia 2012  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

    Individual evidence

    1. a b c d e f The state returning officer informs: Final result for North Rhine-Westphalia. (No longer available online.) The State Returning Officer of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, May 25, 2012, archived from the original on December 17, 2015 ; Retrieved May 26, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / alt.wahlresults.nrw.de
    2. NRW state election on May 9, 2010. The state returning officer informs: Final result for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The Regional Returning Officer of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, May 2010, accessed on May 14, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / alt.wahlresults.nrw.de
    3. ^ Jörg Diehl: School peace in NRW. Everything can, nothing has to be done. Spiegel online, July 20, 2011, accessed March 14, 2012 .
    4. Press release on the Strengthening Pact City Finances Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, August 19, 2011.
    5. ^ Rainer Kellers: Commentary on the end of the government force. Failed due to financial policy. Westdeutscher Rundfunk Cologne, March 14, 2012, accessed on March 15, 2012 .
    6. ↑ Formation of the NRW government. Kraft cancels Rüttgers, now there is a threat of a new election. Welt Online, Reuters / dpa / AFP / lw, ​​June 11, 2010, accessed on March 16, 2012 .
    7. NRW threatens a new election. Constitutional judges overturn the red-green budget. Spiegel Online, hen / Reuters / dapd / dpa, March 16, 2011, accessed on March 14, 2012 .
    8. ^ Dissolution of parliament. Landtag resolves new elections in NRW. Spiegel Online, March 14, 2012, accessed March 14, 2012 .
    9. NRW legal opinion. Jurists doubt the dissolution of the state parliament. Zeit Online, March 17, 2012, accessed March 19, 2012 .
    10. Art. 35 (1) Constitution for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
    11. Article 31 (3) of the constitution for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
    12. Article 35 (3) of the constitution for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the version valid from October 29, 2011 to June 30, 2016.
    13. a b State Election Act in the version valid from January 9, 2008 to October 31, 2015.
    14. a b Timetable for new elections: This is how it continues now WDR, March 14, 2012.
    15. NRW elects a new state parliament on May 13th ( memento of the original from March 13th, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release by the Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs, March 16, 201. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mik.nrw.de
    16. a b State election on May 13, 2012: 17 state lists approved. (PDF; 27 kB) (No longer available online.) Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, April 14, 2012, archived from the original on October 2, 2013 ; Retrieved April 14, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mik.nrw.de
    17. a b c press release. (PDF; 24 kB) (No longer available online.) The State Returning Officer of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, April 20, 2012, archived from the original on May 5, 2012 ; Retrieved April 20, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mik.nrw.de
    18. a b Landtag election 2012. Directory of applicants in North Rhine-Westphalia. (PDF; 2.0 MB) (No longer available online.) The State Returning Officer of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, April 20, 2012, archived from the original on May 5 2012 ; Retrieved April 20, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mik.nrw.de
    19. a b c NRW state election: CDU selects Röttgen as top candidate zeit.de, April 4, 2012.
    20. ^ State elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. SPD elects Kraft as the top candidate with 99.3 percent. FOCUS Online, ae / gx / AFP, March 31, 2012, accessed April 8, 2012 .
    21. ^ Gerhard Vogt: Party congress for the NRW state election. The Greens choose Löhrmann as the top candidate. RP ONLINE, March 31, 2012, accessed April 8, 2012 .
    22. a b NRW state election. Dream result and difficult times for Lindner. ZEIT ONLINE, AFP, dpa, Reuters, April 1, 2012, accessed on April 1, 2012 .
    23. NRW: State Party Congress 2012.1 / State List 2012 State List 2012. Pirate Party Germany, March 28, 2012, accessed on April 8, 2012 .
    24. PRO NRW goes into the election campaign pronrw.net, March 21, 2012.
    25. Markus Pohl: NPD-NRW chose state list for the upcoming state elections. NPD-NRW, accessed on April 10, 2012 .
    26. ^ Michael Siethoff: New elections in NRW. Human Environment Animal Welfare Party, accessed on April 2, 2012 .
    27. a b The chances of the little ones. Westdeutscher Rundfunk Cologne, April 29, 2012, accessed on May 3, 2012 (note the links to the video reports on the individual groups in the WDR media library ).
    28. ↑ Sign for a washing machine (and NRW)! The PARTY, March 26, 2012, accessed March 28, 2012 .
    29. ^ ÖDP state list drawn up: 16 candidates for the state parliament. (No longer available online.) In: oedp-nrw.de. Ecological Democratic Party, State Association of North Rhine-Westphalia, March 31, 2012, archived from the original on January 21, 2015 ; Retrieved April 12, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oedp-nrw.de
    30. Article about the candidate Hans Josef Tegethoff Neue Westfälische, May 4, 2012.
    31. Landtag election 2012: Directory of applicants in North Rhine-Westphalia ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF), on Horst Schulze see p. 84. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mik.nrw.de
    32. See interview with Horst Schulze parteien.de, May 3, 2012.
    33. Peter Ries: FREE VOTERS run for state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. (No longer available online.) FREE VOTERS North Rhine-Westphalia, archived from the original on March 30, 2012 ; Retrieved April 2, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nw.freiewaehler.eu
    34. Heirs of the FDP? Telepolis, Christian Heise, Heise Zeitschriften Verlag, March 30, 2012, accessed on March 30, 2012 .
    35. State Returning Officer: State election on May 13, 2012. Election announcement. (PDF; 28 kB) (No longer available online.) Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, archived from the original on April 17, 2012 ; accessed on March 31, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mik.nrw.de
    36. NRW election party conference. SPD attacks "man who doesn't dare". Süddeutsche.de / dpa / joku, March 31, 2012, accessed on March 31, 2012 .
    37. Sylvia Löhrmann leads Greens in NRW election campaign derwesten.de, March 30, 2012.
    38. Liberals. Lindner is the new FDP leader in North Rhine-Westphalia. ZEIT ONLINE, AFP, dpa. Reuters, May 6, 2012, accessed May 8, 2012 .
    39. ^ Occupation of the state list of the LINK in NRW dielinke-nrw.de, April 2, 2012.
    40. Achim Müller: Dr. Joachim Paul on the first list of the Pirate Party NRW for the state election on May 13th. Piratenparteie Landesverband Nordrhein-Westfalen, March 24, 2012, accessed on March 26, 2012 .
    41. ^ Robert Birnbaum: Prime Minister yes - opposition leader no. Norbert Röttgen does not commit to Düsseldorf. Der Tagesspiegel, March 16, 2012, accessed on March 16, 2012 .
    42. Reiner Burger: Election in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Norbert Blüm trauma. faz.net, FAZ, March 18, 2012, accessed on March 19, 2012 .
    43. NRW has the choice. Christian Democratic Union (CDU), State Association of North Rhine-Westphalia, March 14, 2012, accessed on March 14, 2012 .
    44. a b Reiner Burger: TV duel between Kraft and Röttgen. The discovery of the subjects. FAZ.NET, May 1, 2012, accessed on May 1, 2012 .
    45. Lenz Jacobsen: Household in NRW: Saving will be made later zeit.de, April 5, 2012.
    46. ^ "Construction West" becomes an election campaign topic. The dispute about the right direction. Westdeutscher Rundfunk Cologne, March 20, 2012, accessed on March 22, 2012 .
    47. childcare allowance. Many hurdles on the way: the childcare allowance could still fail. Augsburger Allgemeine, afp, April 27, 2012, accessed on May 1, 2012 .
    48. Reiner Burger: The minority governs well. faz.net, December 28, 2011, accessed March 14, 2012 .
    49. ^ TV duel on WDR television. Force against Röttgen. That's how the duel went. Westdeutscher Rundfunk Cologne , April 30, 2012, accessed on May 3, 2012 .
    50. TV elephant round in NRW. Kraft's cuddling course in the election arena sueddeutsche.de, May 3, 2012 (the date May 15 is incorrect).
    51. Summary of the election arena: The Round of Spitzenkandidaten WDR, May 3, 2012.
    52. cf. Imprint Wahl-O-Mat 2013
    53. Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich (CSU) warns of an escalation between right-wing extremists and Salafists. Spiegel Online , April 29, 2012, accessed April 30, 2012 .
    54. ^ Florian Flade: election campaign. “Pro NRW” wants to provoke Muslims in front of mosques. Axel Springer AG , ( Welt Online ), AFP / dpa, accessed on April 30, 2012 .
    55. ^ Right-wing extremists and Salafists. Friedrich fears escalation in NRW. Süddeutsche Zeitung Digitale Medien GmbH, April 29, 2012, accessed on April 30, 2012 .
    56. ^ Salafists at Pro-NRW rally. Radicals among themselves. Spiegel Online, May 5, 2012, accessed May 8, 2012 .
    57. ^ Riots in Bonn. Salafist in custody for attempted murder. Spiegel Online, anr / dpa, July 5, 2012, accessed on May 8, 2012 .
    58. Surveys in North Rhine-Westphalia. If there were state elections next Sunday ... Wahlrecht.de, Wilko Zicht and Matthias Cantow, accessed on March 14, 2012 .
    59. Ranking of the turnout for the state elections 2012 (provisional result) and deviations from other elections according to state electoral districts. (PDF; 75 kB) (No longer available online.) The State Returning Officer of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, May 14, 2012, archived from the original on December 17 2015 ; Retrieved May 14, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / alt.wahlresults.nrw.de
    60. Elected in the state electoral districts in the state elections in 2012 (preliminary result). (PDF; 78 kB) (No longer available online.) The State Returning Officer of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, May 14, 2012, archived from the original on December 17 2015 ; Retrieved May 14, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / alt.wahlresults.nrw.de
    61. The regional returning officer informs: State election 2012 in North Rhine-Westphalia. Preliminary allocation of seats. (No longer available online.) The State Returning Officer of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Press and Public Relations Department, May 14, 2012, archived from the original on December 17, 2015 ; Retrieved May 14, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / alt.wahlresults.nrw.de
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