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1969 West German presidential election
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An indirect presidential election (officially the 5th Federal Convention) was held in
West Germany
on 5 March 1969. The incumbent president,
Heinrich Lubke
, had served two terms and was therefore ineligible for a third. The
Christian Democratic Union
nominated defense minister
Gerhard Schroder
. Schroder was a controversial choice, even within his own party, since he had been a member of the
NSDAP
and the
SA
under Hitler. Other potential candidates included
Helmut Kohl
and
Richard von Weizsacker
, relatively unknown names at the time, who would go on to serve as chancellor and president, respectively. Justice Minister
Gustav Heinemann
was nominated by the
Social Democratic Party
and supported by the opposition
Free Democratic Party
. With neither candidate able to win an absolute majority, Heinemann won the election on the third ballot by only 6 votes.
Gustav Heinemann
became the first
Social Democrat
to be elected
German president
in
50 years
.
Composition of the Federal Convention
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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.
Source:
Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundesprasidenten am 18. Marz 2012
Results
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Candidate
|
Parties
|
First round
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Second round
|
Third round
|
Votes
|
%
|
Votes
|
%
|
Votes
|
%
|
Gustav Heinemann
|
SPD
,
FDP
|
514
|
49.6
|
511
|
49.3
|
512
|
49.4
|
Gerhard Schroder
|
CDU
/
CSU
,
NPD
|
501
|
48.4
|
507
|
48.9
|
506
|
48.8
|
Abstentions
|
5
|
0.5
|
5
|
0.5
|
5
|
0.5
|
Invalid votes
|
3
|
0.3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Not present
|
13
|
1.3
|
13
|
1.3
|
13
|
1.3
|
Total
|
1,036
|
98.75
|
1,036
|
98.75
|
1036
|
98.75
|
Source:
Bundestag
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References
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