Who has the majority in the Bundesrat?
The Bundesrat, the federal council of the states, has 69 votes; each state votes as a bloc with three to six votes. A majority needs 35. Because coalitions abstain when they disagree, what counts in practice is which votes a party can block: any party that sits in state governments with more than 34 votes combined can hold up bills requiring consent.
At present CDU/CSU sits in governments with 39 votes, SPD with 36. 11 votes belong to states whose government is not yet recorded here.
Votes of the states with government participation
A party counts the votes of every state whose government it is part of. Votes can therefore be attributed to several parties.
- CDU/CSU39 votes, 8 states
- SPD36 votes, 9 states
- Grüne28 votes, 6 states
- BSW8 votes, 2 states
- Freie Wähler6 votes, 1 state
- Linke3 votes, 1 state
Dashed line: majority from 35 votes.
Votes by governing coalition
| Coalition | Votes | States |
|---|---|---|
| Grüne + CDU/CSU | 16 | Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein |
| CDU/CSU + SPD | 13 | Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony |
| SPD + Grüne | 9 | Hamburg, Lower Saxony |
| CDU/CSU + Freie Wähler | 6 | Bavaria |
| SPD + BSW | 4 | Brandenburg |
| CDU/CSU + BSW + SPD | 4 | Thuringia |
| SPD + Grüne + Linke | 3 | Bremen |
| SPD | 3 | Saarland |
Votes and government by state
| State | Votes | Government |
|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | 6 | Grüne + CDU |
| Bavaria | 6 | CSU + Freie Wähler |
| Berlin | 4 | not yet recorded |
| Brandenburg | 4 | SPD + BSW |
| Bremen | 3 | SPD + Grüne + Linke |
| Hamburg | 3 | SPD + Grüne |
| Hesse | 5 | CDU + SPD |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 3 | not yet recorded |
| Lower Saxony | 6 | SPD + Grüne |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 6 | CDU + Grüne |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 4 | CDU + SPD |
| Saarland | 3 | SPD |
| Saxony | 4 | CDU + SPD |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 4 | not yet recorded |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 4 | CDU + Grüne |
| Thuringia | 4 | CDU + BSW + SPD |
Governments as per the coalition agreements. The row is updated after every state election, see the change log.