State election in Hesse 1946
The elections for the 1st Hessian Landtag took place on December 1, 1946. At the same time, two popular votes ( obligatory referendums ) were held to adopt the state constitution and to include the so-called " Socialization Article 41 " in it.
initial situation
After the end of the Second World War , the occupying powers faced the task of rebuilding the political structures. For this purpose, the states were re-established by order. The state of Greater Hesse was also formed. The Potsdam Agreement of August 2, 1945 was the first important basis for the establishment of new political structures . This provided for the restoration of local self-government, but also of electoral representatives at community, district and state level. The establishment of the state structures after the collapse took place from the municipal level through the state level and finally at the federal level.
In 1946 an appointed advisory state committee was first convened as a preliminary parliament and on June 30, 1946 the state assembly advising the constitution (Greater Hesse) was elected. In this election, the SPD became the strongest force.
| fraction | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| SPD | 44.3% | 42 |
| CDU | 37.3% | 35 |
| KPD | 9.7% | 7th |
| LDP | 8.1% | 6th |
| Workers' Party | 0.6% | 0 |
| total | 90 |
Five months later, the Hessians were called upon to appoint a freely elected parliament for the first time since the war .
The implementation of the state elections in all occupation zones was made more difficult by the consequences of dictatorship and war. Furthermore, a large number of eligible voters were in captivity and could not exercise their right to vote. As a result of flight and displacement , many millions of people lived outside their homes. The population registration system was also affected by the loss of the archives of the communities in East Germany .
The right to vote of the former members of the NSDAP , SS and other Nazi organizations was a difficult topic . There was consensus among the four occupying powers that active participation in the crimes of National Socialism should result in a loss of the right to vote. Since denazification was not yet complete, it was necessary to find suitable regulations. The electoral law stipulated in section II that the right to vote should be waived depending on the time of joining the respective Nazi organization.
The parties had to be approved by the occupation authorities. In contrast to the 1946 state elections in the Soviet Zone in 1946 , this approval was not used to prevent the candidacy of promising parties. On September 21, 1946, the state lists of four parties were admitted to the state election.
Result
The first state election in Hesse on December 1, 1946 resulted in the following:
| Political party | agree completely |
percent | Electoral circular seats |
Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible voters | 2,380,109 | |||
| Voters | 1,741,416 | 73.17 | ||
| Valid votes | 1,609,388 | 92.42 | ||
| SPD | 687.431 | 42.71 | 30th | 38 |
| CDU | 498.158 | 30.95 | 21st | 28 |
| LDP | 252.207 | 15.67 | 8th | 14th |
| KPD | 171,592 | 10.66 | 3 | 10 |
| Total | 1,609,388 | 100 | 62 | 90 |
In a referendum held at the same time, the state constitution was adopted.
A grand coalition of the SPD and CDU came about . Christian Stock (SPD) became the first freely elected Prime Minister of the State of Hesse . He took over the office from Karl Geiler , who had held it since October 12, 1945, after he had been used by the Allied occupation forces. Stock was elected on December 20, and the Cabinet was appointed on January 7, 1947.
Right to vote and implementation
The legal basis for the election was the Election Act for the State Parliament of Hesse from October 14, 1946.
For the state elections in Hesse in 1946, 15 constituencies were formed, within each of which several candidates were elected (for the electoral division, see the list of constituencies in the 1946 state elections ). 62 of the state parliament members were elected through constituencies, 28 through state lists. The allocation procedure was regulated as follows. The number of valid votes (for all parties that achieved at least 5% of the votes in the country) was divided by 90, i.e. the number of seats. This quotient (17,882) was the basis for the allocation of seats in the constituencies. Each party received as many seats in each constituency as it had achieved a multiple of 17,882. The seats not distributed in this way were distributed via the state list. For the distribution of the seats on the state lists, the remaining votes from the constituencies were added up for each party in the whole country and there was again a seat for a full quotient (17,882). If not all 90 seats could be assigned in this way, the parties received with the largest remaining number of votes, one more seat each until all seats have been allocated. The result was a distribution of seats based on the Hare-Niemeyer method .
The electoral examination court only decided on the validity of the election on 23/24. March 1949 final.
Referendums
At the same time as the first election of the Hessian state parliament, two referendums on the state constitution were held. The first concerned the question of the adoption of the entire state constitution , the second put the additional inclusion of Article 41 on the possibility of socialization for decision. Both proposals were accepted by a majority of the voters.
| Referendums in Hesse in 1946 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| template | Participation (absolute) | Participation (in%) | Yes votes (absolute) | Yes votes (in%) | No votes (absolute) | No votes (in%) | Invalid (absolute) | Invalid (in%) | Result |
| Adoption of the state constitution | 1,741,519 | unknown | 1,161,773 | 66.71% | 351.275 | 20.71% | 228.471 | 13.12% |
|
| Inclusion of Article 41 | 1,741,519 | unknown | 1,085,151 | 62.31% | 422.194 | 24.24% | 234.174 | 13.45% |
|
See also
- Hessian Landtag # election results
- List of members of the Hessian state parliament (1st electoral period)
literature
- Jochen Lengemann : The Hessen Parliament 1946–1986 . Biographical handbook of the advisory state committee, the state assembly advising the constitution and the Hessian state parliament (1st – 11th electoral period). Ed .: President of the Hessian State Parliament. Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-458-14330-0 , p. 88–89 ( hessen.de [PDF; 12.4 MB ]).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ State elections in Hesse 1946–2009 Hessian State Statistical Office
- Jump up to democracy. Everyday life and a new political beginning in Hesse after 1945. 19 The constitution is drawn up: 5.1. The National Assembly that advises the constitution ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , edit. by Andreas Hedwig, new ed. by Reinhard Neebe with the assistance of Bettina Kasan, Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg
- ^ Nominations for the election of the Landtag of the State of Hesse on December 1, 1946 from November 12, 1946 . In: The State Returning Officer (Ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1946 No. 13 , p. 93 , point 115 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 568 kB ]).
- ^ Claus A. Fischer (ed.): Election handbook for the Federal Republic of Germany. Data on Bundestag, Landtag and European elections in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the federal states and in the districts 1946–1989, 1st half volume . Paderborn 1990.
- ^ Election law for the Landtag of the State of Hesse of October 14, 1946 (GVBl. P. 177)
- ↑ § 6 Electoral Law
- ^ Jochen Lengemann : The Hesse Parliament 1946–1986 . Biographical handbook of the advisory state committee, the state assembly advising the constitution and the Hessian state parliament (1st – 11th electoral period). Ed .: President of the Hessian State Parliament. Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-458-14330-0 , p. 89 ( hessen.de [PDF; 12.4 MB ]).
- ↑ Jakob Schissler: Principles of the political and economic development in Hesse after 1945 . In: Dirk Berg-Schlosse and Thomas Noetzel (eds.): Parties and elections in Hessen 1946-1994 . The electoral regulations, p. 57-60 .
- ↑ Judgment of the electoral review court at the state parliament of March 23, 1949 of March 23, 1949 . In: State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1949 no. 25 , p. 233 , point 357 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 3.6 MB ]).
- ↑ Official information ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) of the State Returning Officer on all referendums in Hesse.
- ↑ The number of those entitled to vote was not recorded at the time.
