GERDA – German Election Database

Provides a comprehensive dataset of local, state, and federal election results in Germany. The data is intended to facilitate research on electoral behavior, representation, and political responsiveness at multiple levels of government. All datasets include turnout and vote shares for all major parties. Moreover, we provide geographically harmonized datasets that account for changes in municipal boundaries and mail-in voting districts.

Dataset Features

1. Municipal Elections

• Coverage: Election results for all municipalities across Germany from 1990 to 2020.
• Content: Turnout and vote shares for major national parties (SPD, CDU/CSU, FDP, Greens, Die Linke) and other parties such as AfD and Freie Wähler.

2. State Elections

• Coverage: State election results at the municipal level for the period 2006–2019.
• Content: Turnout and vote shares for major parties and additional parties such as AfD from 2012 onwards.

3. Federal Elections

• Coverage: Federal election results at the municipal level since 1980 and county level since 1953.
• Content: Turnout and vote shares for all parties that have contested elections, with special handling of mail-in votes.

Harmonization to 2021 Boundaries

• We also provide all election results datasets in an adjusted format where we harmonize geographic entities (e.g. municipalities or counties) to 2021 boundaries.