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1976 West German federal election

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1976 West German federal election

← 1972 3 October 1976 (1976-10-03) 1980 →

All 496 seats in the Bundestag[a]
249 seats needed for a majority
Registered42,058,015 (Increase 1.5%)
Turnout90.7% (Decrease 0.4pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049284-0036A, Berlin, CDU Bundestagswahlkampf, Kohl (cropped) (cropped).jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F048644-0025, Dortmund, SPD-Parteitag, Helmut Schmidt (cropped).jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049317-0008, FDP-Bundestagswahlkampf, Wahlreise Genscher (cropped).jpg
Candidate Helmut Kohl Helmut Schmidt Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP
Last election 44.9%, 225 seats 45.8%, 230 seats 8.4%, 41 seats
Seats won 243[b] 214[c] 39[d]
Seat change Increase 18 Decrease 16 Decrease 2
Popular vote 18,394,801 16,099,019 2,995,085
Percentage 48.6% 42.6% 7.9%
Swing Increase 3.7pp Decrease 3.2pp Decrease 0.5pp

Results by constituency for the first votes. Grey denotes seats won by the CDU/CSU; red denotes seats won by the SPD.

Government before election

First Schmidt cabinet
SPDFDP

Government after election

Second Schmidt cabinet
SPDFDP

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 3 October 1976 to elect the members of the 8th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU alliance became the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor.

Campaign

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The coalition of the SPD and the FDP wanted to be re-elected, with the SPD, since 1974 led by Helmut Schmidt, the party's candidate for Chancellor. The CDU and the CSU tried to achieve an absolute majority of the votes to make CDU chairman Helmut Kohl Chancellor, but they fell six seats short of their target.

Opinion polls

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Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size
Union SPD FDP Others Abstention Lead
1976 federal election 3 Oct 1976 48.6 42.6 7.9 0.9 9.3 6.1
Emnid for SPIEGEL Sep 1976 N/A 49 41 8 2 8
Emnid for SPIEGEL Aug 1976 N/A 48 43 7 2 5
Emnid for SPIEGEL Jul 1976 N/A 47 44 8 1 3
Emnid for SPIEGEL Jun 1976 N/A 51 41 8 0 10
Allensbach Nov/Dec 1975 N/A 50.7 39.7 8.6 1.0 10.0
Infratest Nov/Dec 1975 N/A 47 40 11 2 7
Emnid Nov/Dec 1975 N/A 45 43 10 2 2
1972 federal election 19 Nov 1972 44.9 45.8 8.4 0.6 8.9 0.9

Results

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PartyParty-listConstituencySeats
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsElectedWest BerlinTotal+/–
Social Democratic Party16,099,01942.5610016,471,32143.7011421410224–18
Christian Democratic Union14,367,30237.999614,423,15738.269419011201+15
Christian Social Union4,027,49910.65134,008,51410.634053053+5
Free Democratic Party2,995,0857.92392,417,6836.41039140–2
National Democratic Party122,6610.320136,0280.3600000
German Communist Party118,5810.310170,8550.4500000
Communist Party of Germany22,7140.0608,8220.020000New
Action Community of Independent Germans22,2020.06019,4900.050000New
Communist League of West Germany20,0180.05021,4140.060000New
European Workers' Party6,8110.0203,1770.010000New
Christian Bavarian People's Party6,7200.0204,8760.010000New
International Marxist Group4,7590.0102,0370.010000New
Action Community Fourth Party4,7230.0102,6360.010000New
5%-Block2,9400.0109850.000000New
Independent Workers' Party7650.0004990.000000New
United Left7010.0002170.000000New
Right and Freedom Party2270.000000New
Independents and voter groups3,7060.0100000
Total37,822,500100.0024837,695,644100.00248496225180
Valid votes37,822,50099.1037,695,64498.77
Invalid/blank votes343,2530.90470,1091.23
Total votes38,165,753100.0038,165,753100.00
Registered voters/turnout42,058,01590.7542,058,01590.75
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Results by state

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Constituency seats

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State Total
seats
Seats won
SPD CDU CSU
Baden-Württemberg 36 4 32
Bavaria 44 4 40
Bremen 3 3
Hamburg 8 8
Hesse 22 17 5
Lower Saxony 30 18 12
North Rhine-Westphalia 73 45 28
Rhineland-Palatinate 16 6 10
Saarland 5 3 2
Schleswig-Holstein 11 6 5
Total 248 114 94 40

List seats

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State Total
seats
Seats won
SPD CDU FDP CSU
Baden-Württemberg 35 22 6 7
Bavaria 44 25 6 13
Bremen 2 2
Hamburg 6 5 1
Hesse 25 5 16 4
Lower Saxony 32 11 16 5
North Rhine-Westphalia 75 25 38 12
Rhineland-Palatinate 15 7 6 2
Saarland 3 1 2
Schleswig-Holstein 11 4 5 2
Total 248 100 96 39 13

Aftermath

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The coalition between the SPD and the FDP remained in government, with Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor. Between the "sister parties" of CDU and Bavarian CSU there emerged a critical conflict, as the CSU leader Franz Josef Strauß wanted to break both the united Bundestag group of the parties and the agreement not to compete against each other in any Land. Later, this attack was withdrawn, while Strauß became candidate for chancellor for the 1980 elections.

Notes

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  1. ^ As well as the 22 non-voting delegates representing West Berlin, elected by the West Berlin Legislature.
  2. ^ As well as 11 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.
  3. ^ As well as 10 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.
  4. ^ As well as 1 non-voting delegate for West Berlin.

References

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