May 1924 German federal election

May 1924 German federal election

4 May 1924 (1924-05-04)
All 472 seats in the Reichstag 237 seats needed for a majority
Registered	38,374,983 ( 6.7%)
Turnout	77.4% ( 1.8pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Hermann Müller Otto Wels Arthur Crispien Oskar Hergt Constantin Fehrenbach Party SPD DNVP Centre Last election 39.5%, 186 seats 15.1%, 71 seats 13.6%, 64 seats Seats won 100 95 65 Seat change 86 24 1 Popular vote 6,008,905 5,696,475 3,914,379 Percentage 20.5% 19.5% 13.4% Swing 19.0pp 4.4pp 0.2pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ruth Fischer & Arkadi Maslow Gustav Stresemann Erich Ludendorff Party KPD DVP NSFP Last election 2.1%, 4 seats 13.9%, 65 seats Did not exist Seats won 62 45 32 Seat change 58 20 New party Popular vote 3,693,280 2,694,381 1,918,329 Percentage 12.6% 9.2% 6.5% Swing 10.5pp 4.7pp New party
Government before election First Marx cabinet Z–DVP–BVP–DDP Government after election Second Marx cabinet Z–DVP–DDP

Federal elections were held in Germany on 4 May 1924, after the Reichstag had been dissolved on 13 March. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest party, winning 100 of the 472 seats. Voter turnout was 77.4%.

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 16 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.

Between 4,514 and 4,638 candidates were nominated by at least 32 parties.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	6,008,905	20.52	−1.40	100	−3
	German National People's Party	5,696,475	19.45	+4.38	95	+24
	Centre Party	3,914,379	13.37	−0.27	65	+1
	Communist Party of Germany	3,693,280	12.61	+10.52	62	+58
	German People's Party	2,694,381	9.20	−4.70	45	−20
	National Socialist Freedom Movement	1,918,329	6.55	New	32	New
	German Democratic Party	1,655,129	5.65	−2.63	28	−11
	Bavarian People's Party	946,648	3.23	−0.93	16	−4
	Agricultural League	574,939	1.96	New	10	New
	Economic Party of the German Middle Class	500,820	1.71	New	7	New
	German Social Party	333,427	1.14	+1.06	4	+4
	German-Hanoverian Party	319,792	1.09	−0.04	5	0
	Independent Social Democratic Party	235,145	0.80	−16.83	0	−83
	Bavarian Peasants' League	192,786	0.66	−0.12	3	−1
	Christian Social People's Community	124,451	0.43	New	0	New
	Polish People's Party	100,260	0.34	New	0	New
	National Freedom Party	62,071	0.21	New	0	New
	Geusen League	59,222	0.20	New	0	New
	Party of Tenants	45,920	0.16	New	0	New
	Republican Party of Germany	45,722	0.16	New	0	New
	German Workers' Party	36,291	0.12	New	0	New
	Free Economy Union F.F.F.	36,013	0.12	New	0	New
	Socialist League	26,418	0.09	New	0	New
	Haeusser Alliance	24,451	0.08	New	0	New
	Wendish People's Party	10,827	0.04	+0.01	0	0
	National Block	9,561	0.03	New	0	New
	Schleswig Club	7,620	0.03	+0.01	0	0
	Bavarian Middle Class League – Southern Region	5,659	0.02	New	0	New
	Independent Economic Group	1,848	0.01	New	0	New
	Masurian Union	1,029	0.00	New	0	New
Total		29,281,798	100.00	–	472	+13
Valid votes		29,281,798	98.56
Invalid/blank votes		427,582	1.44
Total votes		29,709,380	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		38,374,983	77.42
Source: Gonschior.de

Works cited

• Graper, Elmer (1925). "The Reichstag Elections". American Political Science Review. 19 (2). American Political Science Association: 662–70. doi:10.2307/2938928. JSTOR 2938928.
• Shepard, Walter (1924). "The German Elections". American Political Science Review. 18 (3). American Political Science Association: 528–33. doi:10.2307/1944174. JSTOR 1944174.