State elections in North Rhine-Westphalia: All results in graphics and maps

Created: 05/15/2022, 15:19

By: Luisa Billmayer, Philipp David Pries, Nils Tillmann

NRW election 2022: All data, results and graphics up to date on the evening of the election.

© imago / Montage / Litzka / Bruckmann

Percentage of votes, distribution of seats, coalition calculator: All information on the state elections in NRW can be found here.

Also detailed election results from the regions.

In the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia on May 15, the most populous federal state will elect a new parliament.

Seven months after the formation of the traffic light government in Berlin, this election is also a barometer for federal politics.

Our interactive election graphics show how the country's approximately 13 million eligible voters voted. You can also find a representation of the distribution of seats and an interactive coalition calculator here.

At a glance: All results of the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia

- Vote and seat distribution in graphics.

Up until election day, these show the latest poll results.

- You can use the coalition calculator to find out which government coalitions are currently possible in NRW.

- 396 cities and 128 constituencies: Interactive map of cities and towns.

Voting shares of the parties in NRW at a glance

The chart below shows the vote shares of the parties in the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Until the results are published on election night, the figures are based on current opinion polls.

In the upper area of ​​the graphic you can select one of several current NRW surveys.

With almost 18 million inhabitants, North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous federal state.

30 of the 80 major cities in Germany are in NRW, the most densely populated area in the Federal Republic.

This is also reflected in different voting behavior, as can be seen, for example, in the differences between town and country in North Rhine-Westphalia.

While the SPD and the Greens are among the strongest parties in some larger cities, the CDU has strong support in rural areas.

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia comprises almost 400 towns and municipalities, which are assigned to 128 constituencies.

NRW: An important election also for federal politics

At the last state election in 2017, a coalition of CDU and FDP replaced the previous red-green state government.

Armin Laschet (CDU) became Prime Minister and finally handed over the office to Hendrik Wüst in October 2021 to move into the Bundestag.

Despite recent CDU successes, there are still many SPD strongholds in North Rhine-Westphalia and especially in the Ruhr area.

Since 1966 there have only been two NRW state elections in which the SPD has not been able to provide the office of Prime Minister.

In the 2005 and 2017 elections, the CDU became the strongest force and formed the state government together with the FDP.

Forecasts before the election showed the CDU and SPD to be almost equal.

Among the top candidates of the parties, Hendrik Wüst from the CDU and Thomas Kutschaty from the SPD were considered to be candidates for the post of prime minister.

The election is not only important for the parties in North Rhine-Westphalia, but is also considered a mood test for the traffic light government in Berlin.

The federal government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz had caused criticism in the months before the state elections, among other things, because of its attitude to the Ukraine war.

Rising energy prices and how to deal with the corona pandemic are also issues that electorate and politicians are concerned with.

These coalitions are possible in North Rhine-Westphalia

In the opinion polls before the election, the CDU and SPD were almost equal until shortly before the election.

The coalition calculator shows which parties could ultimately form a government.

The interactive election data team 2022: Luisa Billmayer, Nicolas Bruckmann, Andreas Fischer, Danijel Komljenovic, Marvin Köhnken, Maximilian Litzka, Michael Peter, Nils Tillmann and Philipp David Pries.

Our data, sources and methods

With the exception of the maps, the diagrams and offers shown here are based on work by the German Press Agency (dpa infocom).

The source for the integrated survey results and projections marked as such is the opinion research institute specified by us

Sources: Depending on the constituency and municipality in NRW, we obtain the result data from the state election authority, the platforms Votemanager and WEP or the information provided by the respective constituency or municipality.

In the case of constituencies, we obtain the names of the election candidates from the information provided by the state returning authority and, in the case of municipalities, from the corresponding local information provided.

In general, it is our aim to provide all data with precision and timeliness.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact us at