Bavaria state election, 2003

The elections to the 15th Bavarian Parliament were held on September 21 2003, the voter turnout was 57.1%. Together with the choice of two referendums (compulsory referenda ) were held to amend the Bavarian constitution.

Starting point and result

Top candidate of the CSU was the reigning since 1993 Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber. For the SPD, Franz Maget approached, the chairman of the parliamentary group.

In this election, it succeeded the CSU for the first and so far only time in the history of the Federal Republic to reach the two-thirds majority of seats. In contrast, the SPD fell for the first time below 20 %, which is a historic low in Bavaria.

The main reasons for this electoral success of a firm rooting of the CSU in Bavaria nearly all strata of the population and a positive for the Union nationwide political mood, which led to increases in votes for the other state elections in 2003 apply. In addition, the narrow defeat Edmund Stoiber as chancellor candidate of the CDU / CSU had a year earlier sparked a solidarity effect of Bavaria with its Prime Minister in the general election.

Referenda

Simultaneously to the state election two referendums amending the state constitution were held in Bavaria. The first template saw the inclusion of connexity principle (Article 83). By the second number of amendments were agreed collected, the recording of children's rights (third main section, Section 1 ), the reduction of the passive voting age from 21 to 18 years ( Article 14) and the approximation of Article 100 of the dignity of man to the formulation of the Basic Law. Both bills were approved in a referendum by a majority of those voting.