Local elections in Saarland 1960 (invalid)
The local elections in Saarland on May 15, 1960 were declared invalid by the Federal Constitutional Court .
prehistory
The local elections in 1960 were the first after the Saarland joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957. The last local elections were the local elections in Saarland in 1956 on May 13, 1956. The party landscape in Saarland changed significantly during the previous parliamentary term. The German Social Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party of Saarland passed in 1956 in the SPD Saar on the Democratic Party Saar in 1957, a regional association of the FDP (joined this time under the name DPS on) and the Communist Party Saar was banned 1957th The formerly strongest party, the Christian People's Party of Saarland allied with the center , became a state association of the CSU in 1957 and finally merged with the CDU Saar in 1959 , splitting off the Saarland People's Party . At the same time, the Christian National Community split from the CDU under the former Prime Minister Hubert Ney .
The new version of the electoral law
At the community level, voter groups had received increasingly large shares of the vote in the 1950s. In Saarland, however, this was not the case to a large extent. In various federal states, changes to the local election laws were discussed, which should make it more difficult for groups of voters to stand. A new version of the municipal electoral law was also discussed in Saarland. In July 1959, the state government (a grand coalition of CDU and SPD) passed a draft law on to the state parliament . This envisaged an unrestricted possibility for groups of voters to run for office.
"Nominations can be made by one or more political parties and other groups of voters."
During the deliberations of the state parliament, this law was changed by a large majority. It was now
“Nominations can only be made by political parties as defined in Article 21 of the Basic Law. Each party can only submit one nomination in a constituency. "
It was no longer possible for groups of voters to participate in local elections without first acquiring the status of a political party. In addition to the desire to keep the groups of voters out of the local parliaments, the SPD wanted to avoid the CDU being able to run in individual communities or circles with two lists, one from the CDU and one from the Christian People's Party. The FDP also spoke out in favor of these regulations. In the state parliament only Erich Walch and Emil Weiten voted against the law. The Saarland municipal and district election law (Kommunalwahlgesetz - KWG) of February 9, 1960 came into effect and the municipal and district council elections were carried out on May 15, 1960 in accordance with this law.
Election results
The election resulted in the following results:
| choice | Eligible voters | Votes cast | voter turnout | Valid votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local election 1960 | 703.119 | 525.378 | 74.7% | 477.177 |
| Municipal election 1956 | 670.324 | 578.162 | 86.4% | 552,377 |
| District election 1960 | 618,577 | 470.149 | 77.3% | 432,317 |
| District election 1956 | 586.725 | 513,688 | 87.6% | 494.258 |
The votes were distributed among the parties as follows:
| choice | CDU | CVP / CDU | SPD | DPS / FDP | SVP | KPD | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local election 1960 | 173,218 (36.3%) | ./. | 149,549 (31.3%) | 81,934 (17.2%) | 41,325 (8.7%) | ./. | 27,660 (5.2%) |
| Municipal election 1956 | 153,600 (28.7%) | 123,679 (22.4%) | 103,645 (18.8%) | 134,533 (24.4%) | ./. | 29,979 (5.4%) | 18,746 (3.9%) |
| District election 1960 | 165,952 (38.4%) | ./. | 137,188 (31.7%) | 66,580 (15.4%) | 45,402 (10.7%) | ./. | 14,033 (3.0%) |
| District election 1956 | 142,013 (28.7%) | 114.591 (23.2%) | 94,493 (19.1%) | 109,978 (22.3%) | ./. | 29,481 (6.0%) | 7,874 (1.9%) |
The following distribution of mandates resulted:
| choice | total | CDU | CVP / CDU | SPD | DPS / FDP | SVP | KPD | DDU | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local election 1960 | 4621 | 1738 | ./. | 1318 | 704 | 360 | ./. | 46 | 455 |
| Municipal election 1956 | 4496 | 1696 | 836 | 829 | ./. | 890 | 9 | ./. | 119 |
| District election 1960 | 183 | 76 | ./. | 63 | 26th | 18th | ./, | ./. | ./. |
| District election 1956 | 150 | 47 | 34 | 29 | 34 | 6th | ./. | ./. | ./. |
The cancellation of the election
Several election complaints were directed against the non-admission of groups of voters, two of which were ultimately submitted to the Federal Constitutional Court for decision as constitutional complaints . The Second Senate ruled on July 12, 1960 that Section 25 (2) KWG was null and void. It weighed the constitutionally prominent position of the political parties in the formation of political will against the likewise protected principle of local self-government (Art. 28 GG) and came to the conclusion "that the selection of candidates for the local electoral bodies must also be determined locally and therefore cannot be reserved exclusively for political parties that are primarily oriented towards the state as a whole, in terms of their nature and structure. "
As a result of the invalidity of the election, there was a repeat election on December 4, the municipal elections in Saarland in 1960 (repeat election) .
See also
swell
- Judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court
- Local election dates at the Saarland Statistical Office, p. 12
- Local elections - Karlsruhe cashed; in: Der Spiegel from August 10, 1960, digitized
- Statistical handbook for Saarland, 1963 Chapter 07 Elections, digital version (election results)
