The results of the Customs Parliament election by constituency. The numbering of the constituencies corresponds to that in the table. Also shown are the election results in the North German Confederation, which was voted in the previous year.
The Customs Parliament election in 1868 took place in Bavaria , Württemberg and Baden as well as in the southern part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse on different days in February and March of 1868. In this election, 85 South German members of the German customs parliament were elected. The federal states of the North German Confederation were represented in the Customs Parliament by the 297 members who had already been elected to the Reichstag of the North German Confederation in August 1867 and who now automatically became members of the Customs Parliament. In total, the customs parliament thus comprised 382 members.
Overall, the opponents of a small German solution under Prussian leadership were victorious . This tendency was particularly evident in Bavaria and Württemberg. The pro-Prussian national liberals triumphed in Baden and Hesse . The most important political consequence of the election was that the opponents of Otto von Bismarck's policy had a majority in the customs parliament .
Elected MPs
In each of the 85 South German constituencies, a member was elected by absolute majority voting. If no candidate achieved an absolute majority in the first ballot, a runoff election was held between the two best-placed candidates. A complete presentation of the election results according to parties or a clear party-political allocation of all candidates is not available.
Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria sent 48 members to the customs parliament. At the end of the 1860s, two political camps were competing in Bavaria:
the liberals organized in the Bavarian Progressive Party, who advocated a swift accession of Bavaria to the North German Confederation as a step towards a small German unification
The election in Bavaria on February 10, 1868 resulted in a clear victory for the anti-Prussian "Patriots", who won around twice as many seats as the Liberals. A third group of MPs could not be clearly assigned to either camp. The following list contains the 48 Bavarian constituencies with the elected MPs and their political direction.
The election in the Grand Duchy of Baden took place on February 22, 1868. National liberal MPs with a little German orientation won eight seats; Greater German oriented Catholics and Conservatives six seats. The following list contains the 14 constituencies of Baden with the elected representatives and their political direction.
The election in the provinces of Rheinhessen and Starkenburg of the Grand Duchy of Hesse took place on February 28, 1868. The province of Upper Hesse belonged to the North German Confederation and had already elected three members for the Reichstag of the North German Confederation in 1867, who automatically became members of the Customs Parliament. In Hesse in 1868 the national liberal and bismarck-friendly direction prevailed. The following list contains the six constituencies of Hesse with their elected representatives in 1868.
The election in the Kingdom of Württemberg took place on March 24, 1868. Only anti-Prussian and Greater German-oriented MPs won. The small German and national liberal oriented German party could not win a single seat. The following list contains the 17 electoral districts of Württemberg with their elected representatives.
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