1871 German federal election
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All 382 seats in the Reichstag 192 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 7,656,283 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 3,905,531 (51.01%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Map of results (by constituencies) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A federal election for the first Reichstag of the German Empire was held on 3 March 1871, 45 days after the founding of the Empire. The voting took place under the legal authority of the short-lived Constitution of the German Confederation. With certain limitations, all German males over 25 years of age were eligible to vote.
The National Liberal Party, one of the key supporters of the German unification of 1871, emerged as the largest party in the Reichstag. The newly founded Catholic Centre Party came in second. Voter turnout was 51%.
The Reichstag approved the new Constitution of the German Empire on 14 April 1871, and it went into effect on 4 May. The next election was held on 10 January 1874 in accordance with the three-year term of office for Reichstag members.