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1979 West German presidential election
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| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| election_name | 1979 West German presidential election | |
| country | Germany | |
| type | presidential | |
| ongoing | no | |
| previous_election | 1974 West German presidential election | |
| previous_year | 1974 | |
| next_election | 1984 West German presidential election | |
| next_year | 1984 | |
| election_date | 23 May 1979 | |
| image1 | [[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F054633-0020, Ludwigshafen, CDU-Bundesparteitag, Carstens (cropped).jpg | 150x150px]] |
| nominee1 | Karl Carstens | |
| party1 | Christian Democratic Union (Germany) | |
| electoral_vote1 | 528 | |
| image2 | [[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F039421-0028, Hannover, SPD-Bundesparteitag, Renger.jpg | 150x150px]] |
| nominee2 | Annemarie Renger | |
| party2 | Social Democratic Party of Germany | |
| electoral_vote2 | 431 | |
| title | President | |
| before_election | Walter Scheel | |
| before_party | Free Democratic Party (Germany) | |
| after_election | Karl Carstens | |
| after_party | Christian Democratic Union (Germany) |
An indirect presidential election (officially the 7th Federal Convention) was held in West Germany on 23 May 1979. Deeming his reelection to be unlikely, incumbent Walter Scheel elected not to seek a second term. The two candidates to replace him were the president of the Bundestag, Karl Carstens, nominated by the Christian Democratic Union, and Carstens' immediate predecessor, Annemarie Renger, nominated by the Social Democratic Party. Carstens won the election on the first ballot.
Composition of the Federal Convention
The president is elected by the Federal Convention consisting of all the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of delegates representing the states. These are divided proportionally by population to each state, and each state's delegation is divided among the political parties represented in its parliament so as to reflect the partisan proportions in the parliament.
| By Party | By State | Party | Members | State | Members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU/CSU | 531 | Bundestag | 518 | ||
| SPD | 438 | Baden-Württemberg | 75 | ||
| FDP | 66 | Bavaria | 92 | ||
| Independents | 1 | Berlin | 16 | ||
| Total | 1036 | Bremen | 6 | ||
| Hamburg | 14 | ||||
| Hesse | 46 | ||||
| Lower Saxony | 63 | ||||
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 143 | ||||
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 31 | ||||
| Saarland | 9 | ||||
| Schleswig-Holstein | 23 | ||||
| Total | 1036 |
Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012
Results
| Candidate | Parties | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karl Carstens | CDU/CSU | 528 | 51.0 |
| Annemarie Renger | SPD | 431 | 41.6 |
| Abstentions | 72 | 6.9 | |
| Invalid votes | 1 | 0.1 | |
| Not present | 4 | 0.4 | |
| Total | 1,036 | 100 | |
| Source Bundestag |
References
References
- (24 May 1979). "Ex‐Nazi Voted West German President". The New York Times.
- (23 May 1979). "W. Germans Elect Ex-Nazi Carstens To Presidency". The Washington Post.
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