1989 West German presidential election explained

Election Name:1989 West German presidential election
Country:Germany
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1984 West German presidential election
Previous Year:1984
Next Election:1994 German presidential election
Next Year:1994
Election Date:23 May 1989
Nominee1:Richard von Weizsäcker
Party1:Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
Electoral Vote1:881
President
Before Election:Richard von Weizsäcker
Before Party:Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
After Election:Richard von Weizsäcker
After Party:Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

An indirect presidential election (officially the 9th Federal Convention) was held in West Germany on 23 May 1989. The only candidate was incumbent President Richard von Weizsäcker, who had the support of all four major parties (CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, and The Greens). It is so far the only time that a presidential candidate ran unopposed. It was also the last presidential election held before German reunification.

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/CSU479Bundestag519
SPD419Baden-Württemberg77
FDP71Bavaria94
Greens67Berlin16
Republicans1Bremen5
Independent1Hamburg13
Total1038Hesse46
Lower Saxony63
North Rhine-Westphalia141
Rhineland-Palatinate32
Saarland9
Schleswig-Holstein23
Total1038
Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012

Results

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CandidatePartiesVotes%
Richard von WeizsäckerCDU, CSU, SPD, FDP, The Greens88184.9
align=left colspan=2Against votes10810.4
align=left colspan=2Abstention302.9
align=left colspan=2Invalid votes30.3
align=left colspan=2Not present161.5
align=left colspan=2Total1,038100
align=left colspan=4Source: Bundestag