1954 West German presidential election

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1954 West German presidential election
Flag of Germany.svg
  1949 17 July 1954 1959  
  Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1983-098-20a, Heuss.jpg Weber alfred 1868-1958.jpg
Nominee Theodor Heuss Alfred Weber
Party FDP KPD
Electoral vote87112

President before election

Theodor Heuss
FDP

Elected President

Theodor Heuss
FDP

An indirect presidential election (officially the 2nd Federal Convention) was held in West Germany on 17 July 1954. The government parties and the opposition SPD renominated incumbent Theodor Heuss. Against his wishes, the Communist Party of Germany nominated Alfred Weber. Heuss was reelected on the first ballot with about 85% of the vote.

Contents

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 partyBy state
PartyMembersStateMembers
CDU/CSU 431 Bundestag 509
SPD 347 Baden-Württemberg 68
FDP 112 Bavaria 91
DP 15 Berlin 22
BP 15 Bremen 6
Z 12 Hamburg 17
KPD 10 Hesse 44
Hamburg-Block 9 Lower Saxony 65
SSW 1 North Rhine-Westphalia 141
DRP 1 Rhineland-Palatinate 32
Independents4 Schleswig-Holstein 23
Total1018Total1018

Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012

Results

CandidatePartiesVotes%
Theodor Heuss CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, DP 87185.6
Alfred Weber KPD 121.2
Others160.6
Abstentions959.3
Invalid votes30.3
Not cast313.0
Total1,018100
Source: Bundestag

Note:1. In addition to the two formally nominated candidates President of the Reich Karl Dönitz, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, Marie Elisabeth Lüders, Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover, Franz-Josef Wuermeling, and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer received one vote each.

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References