2021 Weranian House of Councillors election

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2021 Weranian House of Councillors election

← 2018 22 January 2021 2024 →

116 (of 232) seats to the House of Councillors
117 seats are needed for a majority
Turnout24,222,924 (52.11%)
  First party Second party Third party
  12-07-17-landtagsprojekt-bayern-RalfR-001.jpg Elżbieta Bieńkowska Kancelaria Senatu.jpg Arvydas Ražauskas.png
Leader Otto von Hößlin Luise Höcherl Arvydas Ražauskas
Party NKP SRPO NNK
Leader since 3rd August 2015 27th Janauary 2020 20th March 1999
Last election 109 seats 80 7 seats
Seats won 130 seats 59 seats 10 seats
Seat change Increase21 Decrease21 Increase3
Popular vote 10,059,483 3,258,201 1,675,838
Percentage 41.53% 13.45% 6.92%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  20160526 Fotoprojekt Oesterreichischer Film Mercedes Echerer IMG 5768 LR10 by Stepro.jpg
Josef Kirui.png
McAllister, David-9220.jpg
2015-01-06 3318 Lencke Steiner (Dreikönigskundgebung der Liberalen).jpg
2018-06-09 Bundesparteitag Die Linke 2018 in Leipzig by Sandro Halank–084.jpg
Leader Yvonne Buchholz
Josef Kirui
Edmund Remarque
Anna Nehammer
Peter Lötzsch
Party Grüns PMZ OSAI
Leader since 7th November 2015 7th July 2019 17th May 2012
Last election 2 seats 13 seats 5 seats
Seats won 9 seats 7 seats 6 seats
Seat change Increase7 Decrease6 Increase1
Popular vote 4,668,392 1,448,291 1,458,294
Percentage 19.27% 5.98% 6.02%

The 11th election of members of the House of Councillors was held on the 22 January 2021 to elect 116 of the 232 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the then 777-member bicameral Bundestag of Werania, for a term of six years.

The 116 members up for re-election were elected via a mixture of single non-transferable vote and first-past-the-post in 74 multi- and single-member districts based on Regierungsbezirke borders. The election was for members of the House of Councillors last elected in 2015 and was held the same day as elections for the provincial governments of Ruttland, Roetenberg, Bonnlitz-Ostbrücken, Wittislich and Westbrücken.

The election saw the NKP secure a majority in the House of Councillors, its first in over a decade, whilst the opposition SRPO saw large-scale losses mainly to the Green party continuing a trend observed since the 2015 elections. Turnout was a low 52.11%.

Electoral process

Werania has since the creation of an elected upper house in 1991 used a plurality voting system based on the boundaries of the 74 Regierungsbezirke in Werania. Some of these electoral districts are single-member and thereby utilise first-past-the-post voting whilst others are multi-member and use single non-transferable vote of between 3 to 9 members. Should a party or coalition gain 117 members of the upper house they will have a simple majority whilst if they have 155 seats they will have a two-thirds majority that is able to amend the constitution.

Voters have to registrar to vote by the 17 December. In order to be eligible to vote one must be over the age of 18, be a citizen of Werania, have a permanent address in Werania and not be currently in prison.

The House of Councillors seats up for election in 2021 were lasted elected on the 16 January 2015. Their terms officially expire on the 16 January with the election being scheduled to be held no later then the 29 January 2021. On the 2 December the Präsidium des Bundes Charlotte II announced that the House of Councillors would be formally dissolved on the 5 December to be elected for the 22 January.

Background

At the last House of Councillors election held in 2018 the governing coalition of the Social Democratic Radical Party of Werania (SRPO) and the Modern Centre Party (PMZ) lost their majority in the House of Councillors, relying on the Weranic Section of the Workers' International (OSAI) and the Sotirian Democratic Homeland (SDT) to maintain a legislative majority. The SRPO-PMZ government however lost the 2019 Weranian federal election to the opposition National Consolidation Party (NKP) who formed a coalition with the Democratic Alternative (DA).

Despite having a majority in the lower house, the NKP-DA coalition lacks a majority in the House of Councillors despite the NKP being the largest party in the chamber. It has as such been reliant on independent members and the SDT to govern with a legislative majority. Having enjoyed strong support in opinion polls since entering office the NKP-DA coalition has made it a priority to secure a strong majority in upper house elections arguing that the current situation is leading to legislative deadlock. Opposition parties have in comparison argued that a strong opposition is needed in the upper house and that the government if granted a majority will become complacent or be given free reign to implement unpopular policies.

Since the 2019 federal election, the Greens have overtaken the SRPO as the main opposition party in many opinion polls, particularly following large scale climate protests that started in the summer of 2020. The House of Councillors elections have been seen as a test for SRPO leader Luise Höcherl, who was elected in 2020, in whether she has been successful in rebuilding the party's popularity.

Opinion polling

In the run-up to the election, various organizations conducted opinion polls to gauge voting intentions for both the 2021 House of Councillors elections and 2023 Volkstag elections. The polls shown are an aggregate for three polling companies - Weranian Politics Review, Eckhardt and Nord Communications and Staatsmann Group.

2020 opinion polling.png
Date Lead
NKP SRPO Green PMZ DA OSAI NNK Other
January 2020 44.6% 9.2% 17.5% 13.8% 2.2% 5.7% 3.4% 2.5% 27.1%
February 2020 43.2% 17.7% 14.6% 9.4% 3.1% 4.8% 3.2% 3.3% 25.5%
March 2020 42.5% 16.8% 13.9% 10.4% 4.6% 5.1% 3.4% 3.1% 25.7%
April 2020 44.7% 16.2% 12.5% 12.7% 3.6% 4.7% 3.6% 3.4% 28.5%
May 2020 39.7% 11.4% 21.5% 11.2% 2.4% 4.4% 3.4% 2.6% 18.2%
June 2020 41.2% 10.6% 22.4% 12.4% 4.6% 5.2% 3.4% 2.5% 18.8%
July 2020 40.7% 13.2% 20.6% 11.8% 2.3% 4.6% 2.9% 2.5% 20.1%
August 2020 41.4% 11.6% 21.8% 12.4% 2.8% 5.7% 3.2% 2.3% 19.6%
September 2020 39.6% 9.9% 22.4% 14.6% 2.5% 5.2% 3.6% 2.0% 17.4%
October 2020 42.5% 10.2% 20.7% 13.2% 3.1% 5.8% 3.1% 2.4% 21.8%
November 2020 43.2% 12.7% 21.4% 10.6% 2.7% 5.5% 4.1% 2.5% 21.8%
December 2020 40.5% 13.2% 20.8% 10.2% 2.4% 5.8% 3.8% 2.7% 19.7%

Pre-election composition

46 61 5 5 50 65
Opposition seats not up Opposition seats up CB CB up Governing coalition seats up Governing coalition seats not up

Results

2021 Herrstag.svg
Party Votes % Seats ±
Seats won Seats not up Total
National Consolidation Party 10,059,483 41.53 67 63 130 Increase21
Social Democratic Radical Party 3,258,201 13.45 23 36 59 Decrease21
National Coalition for Independence 1,675,838 6.92 6 4 10 Increase3
Green Party 4,668,392 19.27 7 2 9 Increase7
Modern Centre Party 1,448,291 5.98 4 3 7 Decrease6
Weranic Section of the Workers' International 1,458,294 6.02 5 1 6 Increase1
Independents 595,038 2.46 2 3 5 Steady
Sotirian Democratic Homeland 348,502 1.44 2 2 4 Decrease1
Democratic Alternative 475,355 1.96 0 2 22 Decrease4
Others 129,583 0.53 0 0 0 0
Invalid/blank votes 105,947 - -
Total 24,222,924 100 116 116 342 -
Registered voters/turnout 46,484,573 52.11 - -

Aftermath