West German federal election, 1983

German federal election, 1983

6 March 1983

All 520 seats in the Bundestag 261 seats were needed for a majority Turnout 89.1% (voting eligible)[1]   First party Second party   Leader Helmut Kohl Hans-Jochen Vogel Party CDU/CSU SPD Leader since 1973 – Last election 237 seats 228 seats Seats won 255 202 Seat change 18 26 Popular vote 18,998,545 14,865,807 Percentage 48.8% 38.2% Swing 4.3% 4.7%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Hans-Dietrich Genscher Petra Kelly Party FDP Green Leader since 1974 Last election 54 seats 0 seats Seats won 35 28 Seat change 19 28 Popular vote 2,706,942 2,167,431 Percentage 6.9% 5.6% Swing 3.7% 4.1%

Party list election results by state: dark blue denotes states where CDU/CSU had the absolute majority of the votes; lighter blue denotes states where CDU had the plurality of votes; and pink denotes states where the SPD had the plurality of votes

Chancellor before election Helmut Kohl CDU/CSU Elected Chancellor Helmut Kohl CDU/CSU

German federal elections took place on 6 March 1983, to elect members to the 10th Bundestag (parliament) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Issues and campaign

In October 1982 CDU chairman Helmut Kohl was elected Chancellor by a CDU/CSU and FDP majority in the Bundestag, while the FDP in 1980 still was on the side of the SPD. Early elections were arranged. The SPD encountered difficulties because on the left a new party was emerging, the Greens.

A major issue in this election was the armament question after the NATO Double-Track Decision.

Results

 Summary of the 6 March 1983 German Bundestag election results

Parties		Constituency					Party list					Total seats
		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Seats^a	+/−	%
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	15,686,033	40.4	−4.1	68	−59	14,865,807	38.2	−4.7	125	+34	202	−26	38.9
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)^c	15,943,460	41.0	+5.4	136	+55	14,857,680	38.1	+3.9	55	−38	202	+17	38.9
	Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU)^c	4,318,800	11.1	+0.7	44	+4	4,140,865	10.6	+0.3	9	−3	53	+1	10.2
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	1,087,918	2.8	−4.4	0	±0	2,706,942	6.9	−3.7	34	−19	35	-19	6.7
	The Greens^b	1,609,855	4.1	+3.1	0	±0	2,167,431	5.6	+4.1	27	+27	28	+28	5.4
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	57,112	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	91,095	0.2	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	German Communist Party (DKP)	96,143	0.2	−0.1	0	±0	64,986	0.2	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	European Workers' Party (EAP)	7,491	0.0	±0	0	±0	14,966	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	3,341	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	11,028	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Christian Bavarian People's Party (CBV)	2,068	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	10,994	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Communist Party of Germany (KPD)	–	–	–	–	–	3,431	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Independent Social Democrats (USD)	450	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	3,333	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	League of West German Communists (BWK)	686	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	2,129	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Electoral groups and independents	31,996	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
Invalid/blank votes		434,176	—	—	—	—	338,841	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Totals		39,279,529	100	±0.0	248	±0	39,279,529	100	±0.0	250	+1	520	+1	±0
Registered voters/turnout		44,088,935	89.1	—	—	—	44,088,935	89.1	—	—	—	—	—	—
Source: Federal Returning Officer

^a — includes the non-voting delegates for West Berlin (11 CDU, 9 SPD, 1 FDP, 1 AL).

^b — known as Alternative Liste für Demokratie und Umweltschutz (AL) in West Berlin.

^c — The Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria call themselves sister parties. They do not compete against each other in the same geographical regions and they form one group within the Bundestag.

↓

255	202	35	28
CDU/CSU	SPD	FDP	Grüne

Popular Vote
CDU/CSU			48.79%
SPD			38.18%
F.D.P.			6.95%
GRÜNE			5.57%
Other			0.52%

Bundestag seats
CDU/CSU			49.00%
SPD			38.76%
F.D.P.			6.83%
GRÜNE			5.42%

Seat results – SPD in red, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. This was the first election in which the Greens secured representation in the Bundestag, and the first which saw a fourth (fifth) party in the parliament since 1960.

References

1. "Voter turnout by election year". Website of the Federal Returning Officer's Office. The Federal Returning Officer. Retrieved 7 November 2014.

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos