1970 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
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All 200 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 101 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 8,739,940 (73.5% ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Results for the single-member constituencies. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1970 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 June 1970 to elect the 7th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Heinz Kühn.
The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) returned as the largest party after falling to second in 1966, winning a narrow plurality of 46.3%, with a lead of 0.2% and one seat over the SPD. The FDP suffered losses and declined to 5.5%. Overall, the incumbent coalition retained a reduced majority of 105 seats. However, a number of FDP deputies opposed to cooperation with the SPD refused to vote for Kühn in the investiture vote on 28 July; he was re-elected with the minimum majority of 101 votes out of 200. There were 95 votes for CDU leader Heinrich Köppler and four abstentions.[1] In October, three members of the FDP faction defected to the new party National Liberal Action, leaving the government with a narrow majority of 102 seats.[2] Nonetheless, it completed its full term.
Electoral system
[edit]The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 150 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and fifty were then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.
Background
[edit]In the previous election held on 10 July 1966, the SPD became the largest party for the first time in the state, coming just short of a majority with 49.5% and 99 seats. The CDU was reduced to second place with 43%, and the FDP improved to 7.4%. The incumbent CDU–FDP coalition was renewed, but collapsed in November after a grand coalition took power federally. The FDP subsequently agreed to a coalition with the SPD, and Heinz Kühn was elected Minister-President by the Landtag.
Parties
[edit]The table below lists parties represented in the 6th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Name | Ideology | Lead candidate |
1966 result | |||
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Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
Social democracy | Heinz Kühn | 49.5% | 99 / 200
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CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands |
Christian democracy | Heinrich Köppler | 42.8% | 86 / 200
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FDP | Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei |
Classical liberalism | Willi Weyer | 7.4% | 15 / 200
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Results
[edit]Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | |||||
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Con. | List | Total | +/– | ||||||
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 4,020,186 | 46.33 | +3.57 | 65 | 30 | 95 | +9 | ||
Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 3,996,808 | 46.06 | –3.42 | 85 | 9 | 94 | –5 | ||
Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 478,420 | 5.51 | –1.91 | 0 | 11 | 11 | –4 | ||
National Democratic Party (NPD) | 94,043 | 1.08 | New | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||
German Communist Party (DKP) | 76,964 | 0.89 | New | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||
Centre Party (ZENTRUM) | 9,902 | 0.11 | –0.09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | ||
Independent Workers' Party (UAP) | 1,504 | 0.02 | –0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | ||
Total | 8,677,827 | 100.00 | – | 150 | 50 | 200 | ±0 | ||
Valid votes | 8,677,827 | 99.29 | |||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 62,113 | 0.71 | |||||||
Total votes | 8,739,940 | 100.00 | |||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 11,890,609 | 73.50 | |||||||
Source: [1] [2] |
External links
[edit]- "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
References
[edit]- ^ "Minutes of the Landtag session of 28 July 1970" (PDF). Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia (in German). 28 July 1970.
- ^ "A dance on the volcano?". Die Zeit (in German). 16 October 1970.