1920 German federal election

1920 German federal election

6 June 1920 (1920-06-06)
All 459 seats in the Reichstag 230 seats needed for a majority
Registered	35,949,774 2.3%
Turnout	28,463,581 (79.2%) 3.8pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Otto Wels Hermann Müller Arthur Crispien Oskar Hergt Party SPD USPD DNVP Leader since 1919 1919 1920 Last election 37.9%, 165 seats 7.6%, 22 seats 10.3%, 44 seats Seats won 103 83 71 Seat change 62 61 27 Popular vote 6,179,991 4,971,220 4,249,100 Percentage 21.9% 17.6% 15.1% Swing 16.0pp 10.0pp 4.8pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   DDP Leader Gustav Stresemann Karl Trimborn Carl Wilhelm Petersen Party DVP Centre DDP Leader since 1919 1919 1919 Last election 4.4%, 19 seats 19.7%, 91 seats 18.6%, 75 seats Seats won 65 64 39 Seat change 46 27 36 Popular vote 3,919,446 3,845,001 2,333,741 Percentage 13.9% 13.6% 8.3% Swing 9.5pp 6.1pp 10.3pp
Winning party by electoral constituency.
Chancellor before election Hermann Müller SPD Chancellor after election Constantin Fehrenbach Centre

Federal elections were held in Germany on 6 June 1920. Territorial disputes meant that voting was delayed in East Prussia and Schleswig-Holstein until 20 February 1921, and until 19 November 1922 in Oppeln. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag although it lost over a third of its seats. Voter turnout was about 79.2%.

Electoral system

The members of the Reichstag were elected by two methods. A total of 35 multi-member constituencies were to have representatives elected via party-list proportional representation. A party was entitled to a seat via this method for every 60,000 votes they obtained in a constituency. At the second level, the 35 constituencies were combined into 17 constituency associations. A party could claim an additional seat if its vote remainder in the electoral district after distribution of seats by the first method was more than 30,000. As seats were allocated based on vote count, there was not a set number of seats in the chamber.

People who were under the age of 25, incapacitated according to the Civil Code, who were under guardianship or provisional guardianship, or who had lost their civil rights of honour after a criminal court ruling were not eligible to vote.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	6,179,991	21.92	−15.94	103	−62
	Independent Social Democratic Party	4,971,220	17.63	+10.01	83	+61
	German National People's Party	4,249,100	15.07	+4.80	71	+27
	German People's Party	3,919,446	13.90	+9.47	65	+46
	Centre Party	3,845,001	13.64	−6.03	64	−27
	German Democratic Party	2,333,741	8.28	−10.28	39	−36
	Bavarian People's Party	1,173,344	4.16	New	20	New
	Communist Party of Germany	589,454	2.09	New	4	New
	German-Hanoverian Party	319,108	1.13	+0.88	5	+4
	Bavarian Peasants' League	218,596	0.78	−0.13	4	0
	Poland Party	89,228	0.32	New	0	New
	German Economic League for City and Country	88,800	0.31	New	0	New
	Christian People's Party	65,260	0.23	New	1	New
	Polish Catholic Party of Upper Silesia	51,437	0.18	New	0	New
	Schleswig-Holstein State Party	25,907	0.09	New	0	New
	German Social Party	22,958	0.08	New	0	New
	German Middle Class Party	21,255	0.08	New	0	New
	Wendish People's Party	8,050	0.03	New	0	New
	German Socialist Party	7,186	0.03	New	0	New
	Reform Group	6,832	0.02	New	0	New
	Schleswig Club	4,966	0.02	New	0	New
	National Democratic People's Party	4,015	0.01	New	0	New
	Christian Social People's Party	1,219	0.00	New	0	New
	Independent Party	169	0.00	New	0	New
	German Economy and Labour Party	43	0.00	New	0	New
	Upper Silesian Catholic People's Party	6	0.00	New	0	New
Total		28,196,332	100.00	–	459	+36
Valid votes		28,196,332	99.06
Invalid/blank votes		267,249	0.94
Total votes		28,463,581	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		35,949,774	79.18
Source: Gonschior.de