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1976 West German federal election

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Field	Value
country	West Germany
type	parliamentary
previous_election	1972 West German federal election
previous_year	1972
election_date
next_election	1980 West German federal election
next_year	1980
outgoing_members	List of members of the 7th Bundestag
elected_members	List of members of the 8th Bundestag
seats_for_election	All 496 seats in the Bundestag
majority_seats	249
registered	42,058,015 ( 1.5%)
turnout	90.7% ( 0.4pp)
image1
candidate1	Helmut Kohl
party1	CDU/CSU
last_election1	44.9%, 225 seats
seats1	243
seat_change1	18
popular_vote1	18,394,801
percentage1	48.6%
swing1	3.7 pp
image2
candidate2	Helmut Schmidt
party2	Social Democratic Party of Germany
last_election2	45.8%, 230 seats
seats2	214
seat_change2	16
popular_vote2	16,099,019
percentage2	42.6%
swing2	3.2 pp
image3
candidate3	Hans-Dietrich Genscher
party3	Free Democratic Party (Germany)
last_election3	8.4%, 41 seats
seats3	39
seat_change3	2
popular_vote3	2,995,085
percentage3	7.9%
swing3	0.5 pp
map_image	1976 West German federal election.svg
map_size	400px
map_caption	The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
title	Government
before_election	First Schmidt cabinet
before_party	SPD–FDP
posttitle	Government after election
after_election	Second Schmidt cabinet
after_party	SPD–FDP

A federal election was held in West Germany on 3 October 1976 to elect the members of the 8th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU alliance became the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor.

Campaign

The coalition of the SPD and the FDP wanted to be re-elected, with the SPD, since 1974 led by Helmut Schmidt, the party's candidate for Chancellor. The CDU and the CSU tried to achieve an absolute majority of the votes to make CDU chairman Helmut Kohl Chancellor, but they fell six seats short of their target.

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample
size	Union	SPD	FDP	Others	Abstention	Lead	CDU/CSU}};"		Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"	Free Democratic Party (Germany)}};"
1976 federal election	3 Oct 1976	–	48.6	42.6	7.9	0.9	9.3	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	6.1
Emnid for SPIEGEL	Sep 1976	N/A	49	41	8	2	—	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	8
Emnid for SPIEGEL	Aug 1976	N/A	48	43	7	2	—	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	5
Emnid for SPIEGEL	Jul 1976	N/A	47	44	8	1	—	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	3
Emnid for SPIEGEL	Jun 1976	N/A	51	41	8	0	—	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	10
Allensbach	Nov/Dec 1975	N/A	50.7	39.7	8.6	1.0	—	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	10.0
Infratest	Nov/Dec 1975	N/A	47	40	11	2	—	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	7
Emnid	Nov/Dec 1975	N/A	45	43	10	2	—	CDU/CSU}};color:#FFFFFF;"	2
1972 federal election	19 Nov 1972	–	44.9	45.8	8.4	0.6	8.9	Social Democratic Party of Germany}};color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-0.9"	0.9

Results

Results by state

Constituency seats

State	Total
seats	Seats won	SPD	CDU	CSU	Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"	Christian Democratic Union of Germany}};"	Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"	Baden-Württemberg	36	Bavaria	44	Bremen	3	Hamburg	8	Hesse	22	Lower Saxony	30	North Rhine-Westphalia	73	Rhineland-Palatinate	16	Saarland	5	Schleswig-Holstein	11	Total	248	114	94	40
4	32
4		40
3
8
17	5
18	12
45	28
6	10
3	2
6	5

List seats

State	Total
seats	Seats won	SPD	CDU	FDP	CSU	Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"	Christian Democratic Union of Germany}};"	Free Democratic Party (Germany)}};"	Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"	Baden-Württemberg	35	Bavaria	44	Bremen	2	Hamburg	6	Hesse	25	Lower Saxony	32	North Rhine-Westphalia	75	Rhineland-Palatinate	15	Saarland	3	Schleswig-Holstein	11	Total	248	100	96	39	13
22	6	7
25		6	13
	2
	5	1
5	16	4
11	16	5
25	38	12
7	6	2
1	2
4	5	2

Aftermath

The coalition between the SPD and the FDP remained in government, with Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor. Between the "sister parties" of CDU and Bavarian CSU there emerged a critical conflict, as the CSU leader Franz Josef Strauß wanted to break both the united Bundestag group of the parties and the agreement not to compete against each other in any Land. Later, this attack was withdrawn, while Strauß became candidate for chancellor for the 1980 elections.

Notes

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

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federal-elections-in-germany 1976-elections-in-germany helmut-schmidt 1976-in-west-germany october-1976-in-europe

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