Party	%	+-	Seats	+-
Turnout	73.5%	+6.9	95	+24
CDU	31.5%	-8.6	34	+4
SPD	25.4%	-13.2	25	-4
FDP	14.9%	+8.3	15	+11
Greens	12.4%	+6.2	12	+8
Left Party	6.0%	+5.2	5	+5
SSW (Danish minority, left-leaning)	4.3%	+0.7	4	+2
Pirate Party	1.8%	+1.8	-	-
Free Voters (localists)	1.0%	+1.0	-	-
NPD (neo-Nazis)	0.9%	-1.0	-	-

That's a majority of one for CDU+FDP, pending the challenge to the local election rules (for the overhang mandates that helped the CDU).

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

Party	Share of vote	+-	Seats	+-
Turnout	67.5%	+11.1	88	+/-0
SPD	33.0%	+1.1	31	-2
Left Party	27.2%	-0.8	26	-3
CDU	19.8%	+0.4	19	-1
FDP	7.2%	+3.9	7	+7
Greens	5.6%	+2.0	5	+5
NPD (neo-Nazis)	2.5%	+2.5	-	-
Free Voters (localists)	1.7%	+1.7	-	-
DVU ("völkisch" far-right)	1.2%	-4.9	-	-6

PM Platzeck left it open whether he wants
to continue the Grand Coalition with the CDU or ally with the Left Party this time. Given that the federal SPD was left with one place to exert power, the federal upper house (Bundesrat, which consists of representatives of the regional governments of the 16 federal states), the second choice would be advisable (with a Grand Coalition, Brandenburg would be forced to abstain on issues the CDU and SPD disagree on).

The combined 3.96% for the three far-right parties (the two listed and the 0.2% for Republicans), who ended their strategic alliance in not running against each other, is a welcome drop, but still not reassuring. What should matter is whether the most extremist but dominant of them, the NPD, can maintain its local grass-roots presence. (Unless I am mistaken, with 2.5%, they'll get state funding...)

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

What a fitting andhair-raising photo...

(That's Guido Westerwelle, boss of the FDP and likely future foreign minister)

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

As I expected, the biggest movement was not between parties, but SPD voters staying home. From ARD:

• CDU/CSU: won 0.62 million voters from SPD, lost 1.11 million to FDP, 0.92 million to non-voters.

• SPD: lost 1.64 million to non-voters, 0.78 million to the Left Party, 0.71 million to the Greens, 0.62 to the CDU/CSU, 0.43 million to the FDP, and even to "others" 0.27 million.

• FDP: gains from others thanthe two big parties were miniscule (20,000 from Greens, 10,000 from Left Party???), while 120,000 went non-voter.

• Greens: apart from the big gain from the SPD, 70,000 from the SPD; but 150,000 went to other parties (Pirates?), 110,000 to the Left Party, and 20,000 each to the FDP and non-voters.

• Left Party: apart from the center-left gains mentioned, 70,000 from the CDU/CSU. This time, there was no mobilisation of extra non-voters like in 2005 -- butthe Left Party was the only one not losing voters to non-voters either.

Note that within the CDU/CSU block, the Bavarian CSU was the biiiig loser: they got 42.6% in Bavaria, far away from their "norm" of absolute majority, and are now far smaller than the FDP at the federal level.


_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}