The election, unlike the last one, was held on its regular date. HDV and LVP went into the 3616 election with new leaders, namely Janna Goddestreu and Harald Matsuyama. A new left-leaning party, Die Sozialliberalen, which was formed by LVP defector Hans Mende, ran for the first time, although, due to defections, it already held three seats in the Reichstag at the time of the election.