1970 Hessian state election

The 1970 Hessian state election was held on 8 November 1970 to elect the 7th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Albert Osswald.

1970 Hessian state election

8 November 1970
All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	3,171,227 (82.8% 1.9pp)
First party Second party   Candidate Albert Osswald Alfred Dregger Party SPD CDU Last election 52 seats, 51.0% 26 seats, 26.4% Seats won 53 46 Seat change 1 20 Popular vote 1,442,201 1,248,543 Percentage 45.9% 39.7% Swing 5.1pp 13.4pp   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Heinz-Herbert Karry Party FDP NPD Last election 10 seats, 10.4% 8 seats, 7.9% Seats won 11 0 Seat change 1 8 Popular vote 316,270 94,531 Percentage 10.1% 3.0% Swing 0.3pp 4.9pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election First Osswald cabinet SPD Government after election Second Osswald cabinet SPD–FDP

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had taken a hard line against the SPD under new leader Alfred Dregger, recorded a major swing of 13 percentage points in its favour, to the detriment of the SPD and National Democratic Party, the latter losing all its seats after a single term in the Landtag. The SPD remained the largest party with 46%, and subsequently formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party, following in the footsteps of the federal government formed the previous year.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. The size of the Landtag was increased in this election from 96 to 110 members. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 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 that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

Main article: 1966 Hessian state election

In the previous election held on 6 November 1966, the SPD retained its majority with 51% of the vote. The CDU and FDP both stagnated on 26% and 10% respectively, while the new right-wing NPD capitalised on discontent over the economy and the major parties and entered the Landtag with 8%. This marked the party's first success in an election and was followed by a string of similar showings in other states over the following two years. In October 1969, long-serving Minister-President Georg-August Zinn resigned after 19 years in office after suffering a severe stroke. He was succeeded by finance minister Albert Osswald.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 6th Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	1966 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Albert Osswald	51.0%	52 / 96
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Alfred Dregger	26.4%	26 / 96
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Heinz Herbert Karry	10.4%	10 / 96
	NPD	National Democratic Party of Germany Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands	German nationalism		7.9%	8 / 96

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+–
	Social Democratic Party	1,442,201	45.90	–5.10	38	15	53	+1
	Christian Democratic Union	1,248,453	39.74	+13.38	17	29	46	+20
	Free Democratic Party	316,270	10.07	–0.33	0	11	11	+1
	National Democratic Party	94,531	3.01	–4.94	0	0	0	–8
	German Communist Party	36,712	1.17	New	0	0	0	New
	European Workers' Party	3,649	0.12	New	0	0	0	New
Total		3,141,816	100.00	–	55	55	110	+14
Valid votes		3,141,816	99.07
Invalid/blank votes		29,411	0.93
Total votes		3,171,227	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,828,701	82.83

External links

• "Final Results for the Landtag election of 8 November 1970" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 19 November 1970. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
• "State election in Hesse, November 8, 1970". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 16 September 2023.