German Empire — Reichstag
Germany elections · 1878-07-30 · held
German Empire — Reichstag; 397 seats. Results retain the source’s historical party groupings.
Results: final · complete coverage · First-round valid votes (5,760,947); historical party groups
Turnout: 63.33%
| Party / candidate | Votes | Vote share | Seats | Electoral votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic parties | 437158 | 7.5883% | 9 | — |
| Left liberals | 463916 | 8.0528% | 29 | — |
| Other liberals | 188417 | 3.2706% | 12 | — |
| National liberals | 1291161 | 22.4123% | 97 | — |
| Zentrum | 1315720 | 22.8386% | 94 | — |
| DRP / Free Conservatives | 785631 | 13.6372% | 57 | — |
| Conservatives | 736826 | 12.79% | 59 | — |
| German-Hanoverian Party | 106555 | 1.8496% | 10 | — |
| Other conservatives | 13165 | 0.2285% | 0 | — |
| Minority parties | 411176 | 7.1373% | 30 | — |
| Other lists | 11222 | 0.1948% | 0 | — |
First-round popular votes and seat distribution from the historical source; elections used single-member constituencies with runoff ballots. Party families and minority groups are aggregated exactly as in the source, not presented as individual parties. Historical boundaries differ from present-day Germany. Voting was restricted to eligible men aged 25 and over. The imperial government was appointed by the monarch, rather than elected by parliamentary majority. The result table misprints the month as June; the election date is corrected to 30 July 1878 using the German Historical Museum’s dated election artefact.
Sources & further reading
Wahlen in Deutschland: Reichstag elections, national votes and seat tables
German Bundestag: imperial electoral system and party development