1974 West German presidential election explained

Election Name:1974 West German presidential election
Country:Germany
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1969 West German presidential election
Previous Year:1969
Next Election:1979 West German presidential election
Next Year:1979
Election Date:23 May 1974
Nominee1:Walter Scheel
Party1:Free Democratic Party (Germany)
Electoral Vote1:530
Nominee2:Richard von Weizsäcker
Party2:Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
Electoral Vote2:498
President
Before Election:Gustav Heinemann
Before Party:Social Democratic Party of Germany
After Election:Walter Scheel
After Party:Free Democratic Party (Germany)

An indirect presidential election (officially the 6th Federal Convention) was held in West Germany on 23 May 1974. Though not term limited, incumbent Gustav Heinemann chose not to seek a second term. The government parties (SPD and FDP) nominated Vice-Chancellor Walter Scheel; the Christian Democratic Union nominated Richard von Weizsäcker. Scheel won the election by 32 votes on the first ballot. He served as president until 1979. Weizsäcker would later serve as president from 1984 to 1994.

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/CSU501Bundestag518
SPD470Baden-Württemberg75
FDP65Bavaria91
Total1036Berlin17
Bremen6
Hamburg15
Hesse46
Lower Saxony62
North Rhine-Westphalia143
Rhineland-Palatinate33
Saarland10
Schleswig-Holstein22
Total1036
Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012

Results

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CandidatePartiesVotes%
Walter ScheelFDP, SPD53051.2
Richard von WeizsäckerCDU/CSU49848.1
align=left colspan=2Abstentions50.5
align=left colspan=2Invalid votes00.0
align=left colspan=2Not present30.3
align=left colspan=2Total1,036100
align=left colspan=4Source: Bundestag