1920 German federal election

Federal elections were held in Germany on 6 June 1920. Territorial disputes meant that voting was delayed in East Prussia and Schleswig-Holstein until 20 February 1921, and until 19 November 1922 in Oppeln.[1] The Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag although it lost over a third of its seats.[2] Voter turnout was about 79.2%.[3]

1920 German federal election
6 June 1920 (1920-06-06)
All 459 seats in the Reichstag
230 seats needed for a majority
Registered35,949,774 Decrease 2.3%
Turnout28,463,581 (79.2%) Decrease 3.8pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
SPD 1920 leadership.jpg
Arthur Crispien on the street.jpg
Oskar Hergt.jpg
Leader
Arthur Crispien Oskar Hergt
Party SPD USPD DNVP
Leader since 1919 1919 1920
Last election 37.9%, 165 seats 7.6%, 22 seats 10.3%, 44 seats
Seats won 103 83 71
Seat change Decrease 62 Increase 61 Increase 27
Popular vote 6,179,991 4,971,220 4,249,100
Percentage 21.9% 17.6% 15.1%
Swing Decrease 16.0pp Increase 10.0pp Increase 4.8pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1982-092-11, Gustav Stresemann.jpg
Karl Trimborn circa 1915 (cropped).jpg
DDP
Leader Gustav Stresemann Karl Trimborn Carl Wilhelm Petersen
Party DVP Centre DDP
Leader since 1919 1919 1919
Last election 4.4%, 19 seats 19.7%, 91 seats 18.6%, 75 seats
Seats won 65 64 39
Seat change Increase 46 Decrease 27 Decrease 36
Popular vote 3,919,446 3,845,001 2,333,741
Percentage 13.9% 13.6% 8.3%
Swing Increase 9.5pp Decrease 6.1pp Decrease 10.3pp
Winning party by electoral constituency.
Results by district and independent city. Black lines delineate states and Prussian provinces.
Government before election

First Müller cabinet
SPD–DDP–Z

 Government after election

Fehrenbach cabinet
Z–DDP–DVP

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Electoral system

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 17 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.[4]

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.

Results
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party6,179,99121.92−15.94103−62
Independent Social Democratic Party4,971,22017.63+10.0183+61
German National People's Party4,249,10015.07+4.8071+27
German People's Party3,919,44613.90+9.4765+46
Centre Party3,845,00113.64−6.0364−27
German Democratic Party2,333,7418.28−10.2839−36
Bavarian People's Party1,173,3444.16New20New
Communist Party of Germany589,4542.09New4New
German-Hanoverian Party319,1081.13+0.885+4
Bavarian Peasants' League218,5960.78−0.1340
Poland Party89,2280.32New0New
German Economic League for City and Country88,8000.31New0New
Christian People's Party65,2600.23New1New
Polish Catholic Party of Upper Silesia51,4370.18New0New
Schleswig-Holstein State Party25,9070.09New0New
German Social Party22,9580.08New0New
German Middle Class Party21,2550.08New0New
Wendish People's Party8,0500.03New0New
German Socialist Party7,1860.03New0New
Reform Group6,8320.02New0New
Schleswig Club4,9660.02New0New
National Democratic People's Party4,0150.01New0New
Christian Social People's Party1,2190.00New0New
Independent Party1690.00New0New
German Economy and Labour Party430.00New0New
Upper Silesian Catholic People's Party60.00New0New
Total28,196,332100.00–459+36
Valid votes28,196,33299.06
Invalid/blank votes267,2490.94
Total votes28,463,581100.00
Registered voters/turnout35,949,77479.18
Source: Gonschior.de

References
  1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p790
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p776
  4. 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
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