State election in Schleswig-Holstein in 1950

In the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein in 1947 , the SPD received an absolute majority in the state parliament with 43.8% of the votes thanks to the electoral law , which had the strong characteristics of majority voting . Schleswig-Holstein was the only federal state with an SPD sole government.

Hermann Lüdemann became Prime Minister . In the election for the first Bundestag on August 14, 1949 , the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein only achieved second place with 29.6% of the vote, behind the CDU, which achieved 30.7% in Schleswig-Holstein. The SPD reacted to this election defeat by switching from Hermann Lüdemann to Bruno Diekmann in the office of Prime Minister. The Diekmann cabinet ruled from August 29, 1949 to September 5, 1950 .

Election campaign and suffrage

Election block poster

The election campaign was shaped by the displaced persons issue. Schleswig-Holstein had taken in the highest proportion of displaced persons , who now make up 35% of the population . For the first time, the BHE was a party for displaced persons. This was clearly at the expense of the SPD, which had performed above average among the displaced in the previous election.

The main topic of the election campaign was economic policy . The focus here was on the supply situation for the population and, above all, the lack of housing , which was still serious five years after the end of the war. In the last electoral term, the SPD had campaigned for nationalization (the “ law on the transfer of basic industry into common property ” had only not come into force due to the occupying power's veto ) and decided on land reform . This policy was criticized by the opposition as well as the introduction of a six-year primary school . The SPD caused a scandal in 1949 when it enshrined these highly controversial issues in the constitution of Schleswig-Holstein . As a result, the CDU no longer took part in the constitutional consultation. The parties were in agreement in the rejection of the dismantling by the occupying forces, which became evident, among other things, during the protests regarding the demolition of the Surendorf torpedo test facility .

The new version of the electoral law led to the next scandal. In the local elections on October 24, 1948 and the 1949 Bundestag election , the CDU was even stronger than the SPD. The right to vote, which had given the SPD an absolute majority in parliament with only 43.8% of the vote in the previous election , now threatened to work against them. The electoral law was therefore changed five months before the election. The number of constituency representatives was increased from 42 to 46, only 23 were to be elected via lists . The state election law in § 3 literally regulates the distribution of the list seats as follows:

"(1) All parties for which nominations and a state list have been drawn up and approved in all constituencies , provided that a member has been elected for them in at least one constituency or they have a total of 5 percent. H. of the valid votes cast in the country. In the case of parties of national minorities, the admission of nominations in all constituencies is not a prerequisite for participation in the balance sheet.

(2) The votes cast in the constituencies are taken into account on the state list

1. the successful applicant more than the unsuccessful applicant with the highest number of votes (excess votes),

2. the unsuccessful applicants (remaining votes)

have achieved. If there is no election in a constituency, no votes will be transferred from this constituency to the state list.

(3) The seats are distributed to the parties in the order of the maximum number that results from dividing the votes calculated for the individual parties in accordance with Paragraph 2 by 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. If the maximum number is the same, the lot to be drawn by the regional returning officer decides on the allocation of the last seat. "

For each party, the votes of its applicants who were unsuccessful in the constituency and the vote lead of their constituency winners over the runner-up were added and the seats were distributed proportionally to the state lists of the parties according to the number of votes calculated using the d'Hondt maximum number method .

Compared to 1947, the procedure was changed in two points: The previous threshold clause on a direct mandate was replaced by the hurdle that one party had to receive either 5% or a direct mandate. This was convenient for small parties. However, a new provision was introduced that only parties who had submitted an applicant in all constituencies (the SSW was exempted from this condition, but not from the threshold clause) took part in the equalization process. This provision was introduced to prevent an electoral alliance of bourgeois parties against the SPD. If these parties made constituency agreements and therefore did not run everywhere, they could not get list seats. Joint candidates from several parties were not possible. Willi Koch (CDU) criticized the regulations as unconstitutional, Carl-Christian Arfsten (CDU) spoke of a "black day of democracy".

The CDU, FDP and DP parties allied in the “German election bloc” made constituency agreements despite the changes that were disadvantageous for them. Only one of these parties ran for election in each constituency in order to increase the chances of victory in the constituencies. It was accepted that there would be no list seats.

Election result

Eligible voters : 1,715,604

Voters: 1341 780 ( turnout : 78.21%)

valid votes : 1311042

Political party	be right	Share in%	Direct MAN date	Seats
SPD	360233	27.48	8th	19th
BHE	306660	23.39	5	15th
CDU ^[1]	258961	19.75	16	16
DP ^[1]	125697	9.59	7th	7th
FDP ^[1]	92466	7.05	8th	8th
SSW	71864	5.48	2	4th
DRP	37115	2.83
KPD	28319	2.16
SRP	21049	1.61
Individual applicants	8678	0.66
Total	1311042		46	69
^[1] CDU, FDP and DP were allied in the "German election bloc". Only one of these parties ran for election in each constituency .

The elected members of the Landtag can be found in the list of members of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag (2nd electoral period) .

Despite the heavy defeat, the former SPD Prime Minister Diekmann did not resign. Since the term of office of the Prime Minister in Schleswig-Holstein was not limited in time until 1990, the Prime Minister could only be removed from office against his will with a constructive vote of no confidence. The CDU, FDP and DP did not have the absolute majority required for this. In the constituent session of the new state parliament on August 7, the attempt to elect Paul Pagel (CDU) as prime minister failed . The BHE rejected Pagel, but was ready to form a coalition with the German electoral bloc led by another prime minister. The CDU, FDP, DP and BHE agreed on Walter Bartram (CDU), who was elected Prime Minister on September 5, 1950 by a second constructive vote of no confidence with 44 against 19 votes with 4 abstentions by the SSW (see Bartram cabinet ). A period in opposition began for the SPD that would last for 38 years. The new majority in the state parliament ended the land reform and returned to four-year elementary school.

literature

Franz Osterroth: 100 years of social democracy in Schleswig-Holstein. Kiel 1963, pp. 134-135.

Web links

Commons : Schleswig-Holstein state election 1950 - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Eligible voters, voters and distribution of votes in% (PDF). Statistical Office for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.
^ Erich Maletzke, Klaus Volquartz: The Schleswig-Holstein Landtag . 1983, pp. 57-58.
↑ The rotten old thing . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 1950, pp. 15 ( online ).

[1] Eligible voters, voters and distribution of votes in% (PDF). Statistical Office for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

[2] Erich Maletzke, Klaus Volquartz: The Schleswig-Holstein Landtag . 1983, pp. 57-58.

[3] The rotten old thing . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 1950, pp. 15 ( online ).