1966 Hessian state election

1966 Hessian state election

6 November 1966
All 96 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 49 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,868,446 (81.0% 3.2pp)
First party Second party Third party   FDP Candidate Georg-August Zinn Alfred Dregger Heinrich Kohl Party SPD CDU FDP Last election 51 seats, 50.8% 28 seats, 28.8% 11 seats, 11.4% Seats won 52 26 10 Seat change 1 2 1 Popular vote 1,442,230 745,409 293,394 Percentage 51.0% 26.4% 10.4% Swing 0.2pp 2.5pp 1.0pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Candidate Heinrich Fassbender Party NPD GDP Last election Did not exist 6 seats, 6.3% Seats won 8 0 Seat change 8 6 Popular vote 224,674 121,326 Percentage 7.9% 4.3% Swing New 2.0pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election Fourth Zinn cabinet SPD–GDP Government after election Fifth Zinn cabinet SPD

The 1966 Hessian state election was held on 6 November 1966 to elect the 6th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and All-German Party (GDP) led by Minister-President Georg-August Zinn.

The SPD retained its majority and remained stable on 51%. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) slipped to 26%, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) 10%. The GDP, which had been in government with the SPD since 1955, fell to 4% and lost its representation in the Landtag. In its place the new radical right-wing National Democratic Party (NPD), led by former FDP politician Heinrich Fassbender, won 8% and 8 seats. This marked the party's first entry into a state parliament and attracted great attention and concern both domestically and internationally. After the election, the SPD chose to govern alone and Minister-President Zinn continued in office.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 48 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 48 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

Main article: 1962 Hessian state election

In the previous election held on 11 November 1962, the SPD won an absolute majority of both votes and seats for the first time. This came to the detriment of both the CDU and GDP. Despite being able to govern alone, the SPD retained the GDP in its coalition.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 5th Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	1962 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Georg-August Zinn	50.8%	51 / 96
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Alfred Dregger	28.8%	28 / 96
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Heinrich Kohl	11.4%	11 / 96
	GDP	All-German Party Gesamtdeutsche Partei	National conservatism		6.3%	6 / 96

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+–
	Social Democratic Party	1,442,230	51.00	+0.16	44	8	52	+1
	Christian Democratic Union	745,409	26.36	–2.48	4	22	26	–2
	Free Democratic Party	293,994	10.40	–1.05	0	10	10	–1
	National Democratic Party	224,674	7.95	New	0	8	8	New
	All-German Party	121,326	4.29	–2.05	0	0	0	–6
Total		2,827,633	100.00	–	48	48	96	0
Valid votes		2,827,633	98.58
Invalid/blank votes		40,813	1.42
Total votes		2,868,446	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,543,079	80.96

External links

• "Final Results for the Landtag election of 6 November 1966" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 24 November 1966. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
• "Elections to the Hessian state parliament, November 6, 1966". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 17 September 2023.