1999 German presidential election
{{Short description|None}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1999 German presidential election
| country = Germany
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1994 German presidential election
| previous_year = 1994
| next_election = 2004 German presidential election
| next_year = 2004
| election_date = 23 May 1999
| 1blank = Nominators
| image1 = 160x160px
| nominee1 = Johannes Rau
| party1 = Social Democratic Party of Germany
| 1data1 = SPD, Grüne
| electoral_vote1 = 657 (1st round)
690 (2nd round)
| image2 = 160x160px
| nominee2 = Dagmar Schipanski
| party2 = Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
| 1data2 = CDU/CSU
| electoral_vote2 = 588 (1st round)
572 (2nd round)
| 1data3 = PDS
| image3 = 160x160px
| nominee3 = Uta Ranke-Heinemann
| party3 = Independent (politician)
| electoral_vote3 = 69 (1st round)
62 (2nd round)
| title = President
| before_election = Roman Herzog
| before_party = Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
| after_election = Johannes Rau
| after_party = Social Democratic Party of Germany
}}
An indirect presidential election (officially the 11th Federal Convention) saw the former Social democrat minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia defeat Christian democrat Dagmar Schipanski and the nonpartisan academic Uta Ranke-Heinemann, who had been endorsed by the Party of Democratic Socialism.{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Roger |title=A Social Democrat Is Elected the New President of Germany |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/24/world/a-social-democrat-is-elected-the-new-president-of-germany.html |access-date=6 March 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=24 May 1999}}{{cite news |title=To the polls |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/1999/05/20/to-the-polls |access-date=6 March 2025 |work=The Economist |date=20 May 1999}}{{cite news |title=No Change in Sight |url=https://www.dw.com/en/theologian-new-leader-wont-change-german-catholic-church/a-3063524 |access-date=6 March 2025 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=17 January 2008 |language=en}}
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.
| class="wikitable" |
| colspan=2 | By party
! colspan=2 | By state |
|---|
| -
!Party !Members !State !Members |
| SPD
|565 |669 |
| CDU/CSU
|547 |82 |
| Greens
|96 |98 |
| PDS
|65 |27 |
| FDP
|56 |23 |
| Republicans
|7 |5 |
| DVU
|2 |13 |
| Total
|1338 |47 |
| colspan="2" rowspan="10" style="background:#dedede;" |
|16 |
| North Rhine-Westphalia
|143 |
| Rhineland-Palatinate
|33 |
| Saarland
|9 |
| Saxony
|39 |
| Saxony-Anhalt
|24 |
| Schleswig-Holstein
|23 |
| Thuringia
|22 |
| Total
|1338 |
Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012
Results
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! rowspan="2" width="150" colspan="2"|Candidate ! rowspan="2"|Nominating party ! colspan="2"|Round One ! colspan="2"|Round Two | ||||||
| Votes
!Percentage !Votes !Percentage | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="right"
|bgcolor="{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}"| | align="left"|Johannes Rau | 657 | 49.1 ! align="right" | 690 ! align="right" | 51.6 | ||||||
| align="right"
|bgcolor="{{party color|Christian Democratic Union (Germany)}}" width="2"| | align="left"| Dagmar Schipanski | align="left"| CDU/CSU | 588 | 43.9 | 572 | 42.8 |
| align="right"
|bgcolor="{{party color|The Left (Germany)}}"| | align="left"|Uta Ranke-Heinemann | align="left"| Independent (endorsed by PDS) | 69 | 5.2 | 62 | 4.6 |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{German presidential elections}}