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May 1924 German federal election

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May 1924 German federal election

← 1920 4 May 1924 (1924-05-04) December 1924 →

All 472 seats in the Reichstag
237 seats needed for a majority
Registered38,374,983 (Increase 6.7%)
Turnout77.4% (Decrease 1.8pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
SPD 1924 leadership.jpg
Oskar Hergt.jpg
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2007-0187, Constantin Fehrenbach.jpg
Leader Hermann Müller
Otto Wels
Arthur Crispien
Oskar Hergt Constantin Fehrenbach
Party SPD DNVP Centre
Last election 39.5%, 186 seats[a] 15.1%, 71 seats 13.6%, 64 seats
Seats won 100 95 65
Seat change Decrease 86 Increase 24 Increase 1
Popular vote 6,008,905 5,696,475 3,914,379
Percentage 20.5% 19.5% 13.4%
Swing Decrease 19.0pp Increase 4.4pp Decrease 0.2pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1982-092-11, Gustav Stresemann.jpg
Erich Ludendorff 1918.jpg
Leader Ruth Fischer & Arkadi Maslow Gustav Stresemann Erich Ludendorff
Party KPD DVP NSFP
Last election 2.1%, 4 seats 13.9%, 65 seats Did not exist
Seats won 62 45 32
Seat change Increase 58 Decrease 20 New party
Popular vote 3,693,280 2,694,381 1,918,329
Percentage 12.6% 9.2% 6.5%
Swing Increase 10.5pp Decrease 4.7pp New party


Government before election

First Marx cabinet
ZDVPBVPDDP

Government after election

Second Marx cabinet
ZDVPDDP

Federal elections were held in Germany on 4 May 1924,[1] after the Reichstag had been dissolved on 13 March. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest party, winning 100 of the 472 seats.[2][3] Voter turnout was 77.4%.[4]

Electoral system

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The members of the Reichstag were elected by two methods. A total of 35 multi-member constituencies were to have representatives elected via party-list proportional representation. A party was entitled to a seat via this method for every 60,000 votes they obtained in a constituency. At the second level, the 35 constituencies were combined into 16 constituency associations. A party could claim an additional seat if its vote remainder in the electoral district after distribution of seats by the first method was more than 30,000. As seats were allocated based on vote count, there was not a set number of seats in the chamber.[5]

People who were under the age of 25, incapacitated according to the Civil Code, who were under guardianship or provisional guardianship, or who had lost their civil rights of honour after a criminal court ruling were not eligible to vote.

Between 4,514 and 4,638 candidates were nominated by at least 32 parties.[6][7]

Results

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PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party6,008,90520.52−1.40100−3
German National People's Party5,696,47519.45+4.3895+24
Centre Party3,914,37913.37−0.2765+1
Communist Party of Germany3,693,28012.61+10.5262+58
German People's Party2,694,3819.20−4.7045−20
National Socialist Freedom Movement1,918,3296.55New32New
German Democratic Party1,655,1295.65−2.6328−11
Bavarian People's Party946,6483.23−0.9316−4
Agricultural League574,9391.96New10New
Economic Party of the German Middle Class500,8201.71New7New
German Social Party333,4271.14+1.064+4
German-Hanoverian Party319,7921.09−0.0450
Independent Social Democratic Party235,1450.80−16.830−83
Bavarian Peasants' League192,7860.66−0.123−1
Christian Social People's Community124,4510.43New0New
Polish People's Party100,2600.34New0New
National Freedom Party62,0710.21New0New
Geusen League59,2220.20New0New
Party of Tenants45,9200.16New0New
Republican Party of Germany45,7220.16New0New
German Workers' Party36,2910.12New0New
Free Economy Union F.F.F.36,0130.12New0New
Socialist League26,4180.09New0New
Haeusser Alliance24,4510.08New0New
Wendish People's Party10,8270.04+0.0100
National Block9,5610.03New0New
Schleswig Club7,6200.03+0.0100
Bavarian Middle Class League – Southern Region5,6590.02New0New
Independent Economic Group1,8480.01New0New
Masurian Union1,0290.00New0New
Total29,281,798100.00472+13
Valid votes29,281,79898.56
Invalid/blank votes427,5821.44
Total votes29,709,380100.00
Registered voters/turnout38,374,98377.42
Source: Gonschior.de

Notes

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  1. ^ Aggregate results for the Social Democratic Party (21.9%, 103 seats) and the USPD (17.6%, 83 seats). The two parties merged in September 1922.

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p790
  3. ^ Ogg, Fredericx A.; Shepard, Walter James (1924). "The German Elections". American Political Science Review. 18 (3): 528–533. doi:10.2307/1944174. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1944174. S2CID 145608013.
  4. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p777
  5. ^ Aleskerov, F., Holler, M.J. & Kamalova, R. Power distribution in the Weimar Reichstag in 1919–1933. Ann Oper Res 215, 25–37 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-013-1325-4
  6. ^ Graper 1925, p. 366.
  7. ^ Shepard 1924, p. 530.

Works cited

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