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1970 Hessian state election

← 1966 8 November 1970 1974 →
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 The Homeland 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 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.

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

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.

Results

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.

Notes

v t e Elections and referendums in Hesse
State elections	1919 1921 1924 1927 1931 1932 1933 1946 (Jun) 1946 (Dec) 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2008 2009 2013 2018 2023 Next
Waldeck	1919 1922 1925
Local elections	1946 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026
Referendums	1926 2018
See also: Elections and referendums in Germany

• Elections in Hesse
• 1970 elections in Germany