Weser-Ems (electoral district)

Weser-Ems was one of the 35 electoral districts (German: Wahlkreise) used to elect members to the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic. It sent members to the Reichstag in eight democratic elections between 1920 and 1933. It existed nominally in the show elections to the Nazi Reichstag until 1938.

14 Weser-Ems
Former electoral constituency
for the Reichstag
Location within the Weimar Republic
StatePrussia &
Oldenburg &
Bremen
ProvinceHanover
Electorate834,042 (1919)
1,050,645 (1933)
Major settlementsBremen, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Rüstringen, Emden, Wilhelmshaven, Delmenhorst
Former constituency
Created1920
Abolished1938

It was located in northwestern Germany and comprised the Regierungsbezirke of Aurich and Osnabrück from the Prussian province of Hanover, most of the Free State of Oldenburg, and the state of Bremen. It was constituency 14 in the numbering scheme.[1]

Electoral system

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The constituency was created for the 1920 election, following the redrawing of districts in the Hanover/Hamburg region.[2] Under the proportional representation electoral system of the Weimar Republic, voters cast a vote for party lists. Parties were awarded a seat for every 60,000 votes in a constituency. Excess votes were aggregated at two higher levels of seat distribution: an intermediate level combining multiple constituencies, where extra seats were awarded to parties' constituency lists, and a national level where seats were awarded to national lists of each party or alliance.[3][4]

Results (1919–1933)

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Vote share

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Party 1919[a] 1920 1924 I 1924 II 1928 1930 1932 I 1932 II 1933
KPD 2.0 7.8 4.6 5.1 6.3 7.9 10.3 7.9
USPD 7.6 16.1 0.4 0.1
SPD 31.4 17.5 20.8 25.4 29.3 24.3 22.4 21.7 19.6
DDP 26.7 12.4 8.6 9.9 7.1 4.3 1.2 1.1 0.9
Centre 19.7 20.6 19.2 20.1 17.2 18.6 18.3 17.9 16.1
DHP 2.0 3.4 2.7 2.1 2.2 2.7 0.4 0.5 0.4
DVP 9.9 22.5 13.2 15.8 12.4 8.0 1.8 3.6 2.2
DNVP 2.7 5.3 15.6 16.0 8.6 6.6 7.9 10.8 10.6
Nazi 7.4 4.8 5.2 20.5 38.4 31.9 41.4
Other 0.2 4.3 1.3 13.0 8.6 1.8 2.2 1.0
Turnout 84.0 80.1 76.4 77.7 74.7 81.3 84.4 81.6 88.7
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

Deputies

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Election Distribution Seats
1920                   9
May 1924                     10
Dec 1924                 8
1928                 8
1930                       11
Jul 1932                         12
Nov 1932                           13
1933                             14
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

References

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  1. ^ "Voters and Elections in the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1933". GESIS. 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Law on the Elections to the Constituent German National Assembly (Reich Election Law) of 30 November 1918". Documentarchiv.de (in German). 3 January 2004. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Reichstag Electoral System". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 25 February 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Reich Election Law of 27 April 1920". Documentarchiv.de (in German). 3 January 2004. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
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Notes

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  1. ^ Notional results on 1920 boundaries.