electionstracker

Germany 1980 federal election

What was the result of the 1980 federal election in Germany?

CDU/CSU won 226 of 497 seats with 44.5% of the vote. 88.6% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Germany
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : CDU/CSU won 226 of 497 seats with 44.5% of the vote; 88.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 2.2 points on 1976.

  • Social Democratic Party of Germany 218 +4 seats 42.9% +0.3 points
  • Christian Democratic Union of Germany 174 −16 seats 34.2% −3.9 points
  • Free Democratic Party 53 +14 seats 10.6% +2.7 points
  • Christian Social Union in Bavaria 52 −1 seat 10.3% −0.3 points
  • Alliance 90/The Greens 0 1.5%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Germany 1976 federal election, party by party.

249 of 497 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 44.5%

    Combined share of the vote of CDU/CSU

    CDU/CSU won 226 of 497 seats. A majority needs 249.

  2. +14 seats

    Seats gained by Free Democratic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1976. CDU/CSU lost 17 seats.

  3. 88.6%

    Voter turnout

    Down 2.2 points on 1976.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Social Democratic Party of Germany218+442.9+0.316,260,677
Christian Democratic Union of Germany174−1634.2−3.912,989,200
Free Democratic Party53+1410.6+2.74,030,999
Christian Social Union in Bavaria52−110.3−0.33,908,459
Alliance 90/The Greens01.5569,589

± is the change against the Germany 1976 federal election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Social Democratic Party of Germany 16,260,677
  • Christian Democratic Union of Germany 12,989,200
  • Free Democratic Party 4,030,999
  • Christian Social Union in Bavaria 3,908,459
  • Alliance 90/The Greens 569,589

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

88.6% of the 43,231,741 registered voters cast a ballot (38,292,176 ballots), down 2.2 points on 1976. 37,938,981 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1969 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • CDU/CSU44.5% of votes45.5% of seats
  • Social Democratic Party of Germany42.9% of votes43.9% of seats
  • Free Democratic Party10.6% of votes10.7% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.4 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.5 by votes and 2.4 by seats; CDU/CSU led Social Democratic Party of Germany by 1.6 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of