Across 421 cities and towns and 21 districts, results from the Hessian local elections are now available on interactive maps. All preliminary trends have been tallied, with final results expected to be released starting today, Monday, March 16, 2026.
On Sunday, Hesse held elections for mayors, municipal councils, city councils, and district councils. These elections determined the mandates of thousands of politicians who directly impact daily life in the municipalities. Interactive maps accompanying the Hessian local elections are tracking the vote count live throughout the week.
When to Expect Further Results from the 2026 Local Elections in Hesse
When the Results Will Come
Hesse has a unique feature in municipal and district council elections: initial trend results are published first. These include all votes for parties, but not individual candidates. These trend results are marked with a trend arrow on the map. Only afterward do the municipalities count the votes for individual candidates.
As soon as the (trend) results for mayoral and municipal council elections are available, you will be informed directly by email – it doesn’t gain any faster than that. Sign up now for your local election update. This service is provided by our partner portal HNA.de.
If no candidate receives an absolute majority in a municipality, a runoff election between the top two candidates will usually take place on March 29. It’s important to note that, unlike Bavaria a week earlier, individual elections in Hesse do not take place on a uniform date. Only around 20 municipalities will elect new mayors on March 15. No district administrator elections are taking place at this time.
A peculiarity of elections in Hesse is evident in the elections for committees: what is elsewhere a municipal council is called a municipal representation here. And what is usually called a city council here is the city council. Voters can vote for individual lists or individual candidates. Depending on the size of the municipality, there are theoretically between 11 and 105 seats on the municipal council. As this count is very complex, there is initially a trend result per municipality and district in Hesse.
The trend result includes all votes cast for the parties themselves. Each trend result is marked with a circle icon showing a trend line. Only then are the votes for individual politicians counted. All together, this forms the final result. Our maps show all available data immediately upon receipt.
Local Elections 2026: What is Being Decided in the Municipalities and Districts of Hesse
The mayor leads the administration of a city or municipality and implements the resolutions of the city parliament or municipal council. What we have is where decisions are made about where new daycare centers will be built, whether all-day care will be expanded, or which transport and infrastructure projects will be prioritized in a region.
The municipal council or city council forms the central decision-making body of the municipality. It adopts the budget and determines how funds are distributed for schools, childcare, sports or social services. It also decides on new building and residential areas, open spaces or the settlement of businesses. Local statutes – for example, on traffic calming or the employ of public space – are also decided here.
The district council deals with tasks that affect all municipalities in a district: such as secondary schools and some cultural and social institutions. It decides, for example, how often bus lines run and which tariff models apply in local public transport.
Our maps are based entirely on official data from the municipalities. We document the source and the time of the last update for each interim, trend and final result. Many data are received via direct interfaces from the systems of the electoral offices. Where this is not possible, our team researches the results directly on site. Quality is our priority, so there may be a slight delay in individual cases, especially when we have to research the results on site in the municipalities.
Our data journalism team has been preparing election data for many years. The goal is to offer this data as quickly, in detail and informatively as possible. We have developed unique interactive maps for the last three federal elections. These maps made the results visible down to the municipal level and made long-term political developments in regions and milieus analyzable. We also regularly publish local elections in great detail. With our offer for the local elections in Hesse 2026, we are continuing this work. Our goal remains to contribute to democratic opinion formation – with transparently researched data, comprehensible methodology and analyses that classify political developments. The Election Data Team 2026: Heiner Di Camillo, Danijel Komljenović, Sok Eng Lim, Luis Mosch, Louisa Pader, Michael Peter, Benjamin Quiring, Philip Ryan, Nils Tillmann and Philipp David Pries.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a “trend result”?
A trend result includes all votes cast for parties, but not individual candidates. Our map marks these trend results with a trend arrow.
When will final results be available?
Final results will be released starting today, March 16, 2026, and will continue to be updated as municipalities count votes for individual candidates.
Will there be runoff elections?
If no candidate receives an absolute majority in a municipality, a runoff election between the top two candidates will usually take place on March 29.
What impact will these local elections have on the everyday lives of residents in Hesse?
