1947 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation and originally had a term of three years. 150 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and fifty then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats. Overhang seats were not compensated. Only parties and candidates approved by the occupying authorities were able to run, and candidates had to be over 25 years old. All citizens over 21 years, as well as those deprived of citizenship after 1933 for political reasons, were eligible to vote. Those with close association to the Nazi regime were barred from voting or running for election.[1]

Since the end of the Second World War, the areas comprising the former Prussian provinces of Westphalia and the northern part of the Rhine Province (the districts of Aachen, Cologne, and Düsseldorf) had been occupied by the United Kingdom. In August 1946, these areas were combined to form the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In January 1947, the Free State of Lippe was also annexed to the new state.

A new parliament was appointed by British authorities comprising 100 representatives for the North Rhine and 100 for Westphalia, with an additional four added for Lippe after its annexation. The appointed parliament first met in October 1946. It was made up of members of five political parties: the Social Democratic Party (71 seats), Christian Democratic Union (66), Communist Party (34), Centre Party (18), and Free Democratic Party (9). The number of seats allocated to each party was based on the reckoning of the British authorities, and was revised at the end of November to reflect the results of the first local elections which were won by the CDU. The appointed parliament had very limited power, as governance was mostly regulated by the occupying authorities. It gained the power to pass its own laws at the start of December, but they still required approval from the British military governor, a restriction which remained until May 1949. The law regulating the election of the Landtag was passed in March.

• "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
• "1947 - the first Landtag election". Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia (in German). Retrieved 5 March 2023.