1949 East German Constitutional Assembly election

(Redirected from East German Constitutional Assembly election, 1949)

← 1938
(pre-partition)

15–16 May 1949

1950 →

All 1,525 seats in the German People's Congress

Turnout

95.23%

	First party

Leader	Wilhelm Pieck
Party	SED
Alliance	Democratic Bloc
Leader since	22 April 1946
Seats won	450

Chairman of the Council of Ministers after election

Otto Grotewohl
SED

Politics of East Germany


Constitution 1949 1968
Leadership Socialist Unity Party General Secretary President (1949–1960) State Council (1960–1990) Head of State Council of Ministers Head of Government
Legislature President Chamber of States
Elections Referendums Constitutional Assembly 1949 General elections 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 Referendums 1951 1954 1968
Political parties Christian Democratic Union Democratic Farmers' Party Liberal Democratic Party National Democratic Party
Administrative divisions East Berlin (independent) Cottbus Dresden Erfurt Frankfurt Gera Halle Karl-Marx-Stadt Leipzig Magdeburg Neubrandenburg Potsdam Rostock Schwerin Suhl Leaders
Other countries
v t e

Elections for the Third German People's Congress were held in East Germany on 15 and 16 May 1949. Voters were presented with a "Unity List" from the "Bloc of the Anti-Fascist Democratic Parties," which was dominated by the Communist-leaning Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The ballot was worded "I am for the unity of Germany and a just peace treaty. I therefore vote for the following list of candidates for the Third German People's Congress," with voters having the options of voting "yes" and "no". In much of the country, the vote was not secret.

According to official figures, 95.2% of voters voted, and 66% of them approved the list, the lowest vote share an SED-dominated bloc received during the subsequent four decades of Communist rule. In all subsequent elections until the Peaceful Revolution, the National Front, successor to the Democratic Bloc, would win 99 percent or more of the vote.

Results



Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Bloc	Socialist Unity Party	7,943,949	66.07	450
		Christian Democratic Union			225
		Liberal Democratic Party			225
		Cooperatives			100
		Democratic Farmers' Party			75
		National Democratic Party			75
		Democratic Women's League			50
		Free German Trade Union Federation			50
		Free German Youth			50
		Cultural Association			50
		Peasants Mutual Aid Association			50
		Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime			50
		Social Democratic Party (East Berlin)			25
		Independents			50
Against			4,080,272	33.93	–
Total			12,024,221	100.00	1,525

Valid votes			12,024,221	93.30
Invalid/blank votes			863,013	6.70
Total votes			12,887,234	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			13,533,071	95.23
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

The Constitutional Assembly adopted East Germany's first constitution in October, and proclaimed the establishment of the German Democratic Republic on 7 October. It then transformed itself into the first Volkskammer.

References

Dirk Spilker (2006) The East German Leadership and the Division of Germany: Patriotism and Propaganda 1945-1953, Clarendon Press, p184
^ Dieter Nohlen & Phillip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p771 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
Die Republik der Partei at Die Zeit
Ballot paper Direct Democracy
^ Germany at Encyclopædia Britannica

v t e Elections and referendums in East Germany
General elections	1949 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990
State elections	1946 1950
Referendums	1951 1954 1968

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