Voting behaviour of people with a migration background

In a complex research project, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation focused on the voting behaviour among people with a migration background for the third time in ten years by conducting a representative survey among Germans with and without a migration background and foreigners living in Germany. With the help of this data, the voting behaviour and voting intentions of these groups can be outlined in comparison. In addition, the results allow for a breakdown by people of Turkish, Russian and Polish origin, as well as late repatriates. Furthermore, the consistency of the research design allows for a comparison over time with the two previous surveys conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation since 2015.

Here a some findings:

• Voting behaviour has changed significantly over time, particularly in the last five years.
• The voting behaviour of Germans with and without a migrant background and foreigners is similar and has shown analogous dynamics since 2015. The CDU/CSU is the strongest political force in all groups. It scores highest in the voting intentions of foreigners.
• The ratings of the parties show that only the CDU and the SPD are rated positively on average by Germans with and without a migrant background and by foreigners.
• Differences in political attitudes towards taxes, migration or climate change are evident depending on region of origin, which may explain different party preferences.
• Voting behaviour according to country of origin differs significantly both among the countries themselves and in comparison to the overall average.
• Among people of Turkish and Russian origin, the SPD is by far the strongest force and the Left Party scores above average.
• Among people of Polish origin and late repatriates, the AfD is in the lead, followed by the CDU/CSU.
• The CDU is the only party that receives a positive rating on average among people of Russian, Polish and Turkish origin, as well as among late repatriates.
• Almost half of people of Turkish origin believe that no political party represents the interests of migrants.

These and other detailed findings can be found in the full study "Voting behaviour of people with a migration background" here as a PDF. Please note, to date the study is only available in German.