1898 German federal election

1898 German federal election

16 June 1898 (1898-06-16)
All 397 seats in the Reichstag 199 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	68.1% 4.3 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Franz von Ballestrem Paul Singer & August Bebel Otto Karl von Manteuffel Party Centre SPD DKP Leader since 1890 18 March 1890 & 21 November 1892 1892 Last election 96 seats 44 seats 72 seats Seats won 102 56 56 Seat change 6 12 16 Popular vote 1,455,100 2,107,100 859,200 Percentage 18.8% 27.2% 11.1% Swing 0.3% 3.9% 2.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ernst Bassermann Eugen Richter Party NlP FVP DRP Leader since 1898 7 May 1893 Last election 53 seats 24 seats 28 seats Seats won 46 29 23 Seat change 7 5 5 Popular vote 971,300 558,300 343,600 Percentage 12.5% 7.2% 4.5% Swing 0.5% 1.5% 1.2%
Map of results (by constituencies)
President of the Reichstag before election Rudolf von Buol-Berenberg Centre Elected President of the Reichstag Franz von Ballestrem Centre

Federal elections were held in Germany on 16 June 1898. Despite the Social Democratic Party (SPD) receiving the most votes, the Centre Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag after winning 102 of the 397 seats, whilst the SPD won just 56. Voter turnout was 68.1%.

Results

Party	Votes[a]	%	Seats	+/–
Social Democratic Party	2,107,100	27.2	56	+12
Centre Party	1,455,100	18.8	102	+6
National Liberal Party	971,300	12.5	46	−7
German Conservative Party	859,200	11.1	56	−16
Free-minded People's Party	558,300	7.2	29	+5
German Reich Party	343,600	4.5	23	−5
Anti-Semites	284,300	3.7	13	−3
Polish Party	244,100	3.1	14	−5
Free-minded Union	195,700	2.5	12	−1
Bavarian Peasants' League	140,300	1.8	5	+1
German Agrarian League	110,400	1.4	6	New
German People's Party	108,500	1.4	8	−3
Alsace-Lorraine Party	107,400	1.3	10	+2
German-Hanoverian Party	105,200	1.3	9	+2
Danish Party	15,000	0.2	1	0
Others	146,800	2.0	7	+6
Invalid/blank votes	34,000	–	–	–
Total	7,786,700	100	397	0
Registered voters/turnout	11,441,100	68.1	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, DGDB

^a Figures for votes are rounded.

Popular Vote SPD   27.18% Zentrum   18.77% NLP   12.62% DKP   11.08% FVP   7.20% DRP   4.43% Anti-Semites   3.75% PP   3.15% FV   2.52% Other   9.29%

Reichstag seats Zentrum   25.69% SPD   14.11% DKP   14.11% NLP   11.59% FVP   7.30% DRP   5.79% PP   3.53% Anti-Semites   3.27% FV   3.02% Other   11.59%