1945 Liechtenstein general election

1945 Liechtenstein general election

29 April 1945
All 15 seats in the Landtag 8 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	94.11%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– FBP Josef Hoop 54.72 8 0 VU Otto Schaedler 45.28 7 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by constituency Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Josef Hoop FBP Josef Hoop FBP

General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 29 April 1945. Following the "silent elections" of 1939, they were the first to use the new proportional representation system. The Progressive Citizens' Party won eight of the 15 seats in the Landtag, but remained in coalition with the Patriotic Union.

The elections were originally set to be held in 1943, as per the constitution of Liechtenstein. However, at the request of both parties, Franz Joseph II extended the government's term indefinitely while there was ongoing threat from Nazi Germany, primarily to prevent the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VDBL) from gaining seats in the Landtag.

Electoral system

Previously voters had chosen members of the Landtag by writing the names of as many candidates on the ballot paper as there were seats in their constituency. In the new system, parties put forward lists of candidates. The lists served as the ballot papers, with voters submitting their favoured list to the ballot box. Voters could also change the lists by crossing out names and adding others from other lists. After the number of seats a party had won was decided, the candidates who had received the most votes after the voter amendments were elected.

The threshold had been set at 18%, considered to be very high, primarily in order to prevent Nazi parties such as the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VDBL) from gaining seats in the Landtag.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Progressive Citizens' Party	1,553	54.72	8	0
	Patriotic Union	1,285	45.28	7	0
Total		2,838	100.00	15	0
Valid votes		2,838	97.66
Invalid/blank votes		68	2.34
Total votes		2,906	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,088	94.11
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

By electoral district

Electoral district	Seats	Electorate	Party		Elected members	Substitutes	Votes	%	Seats
Oberland	9	2,032		Patriotic Union	Alois Ritter Josef Sele Florian Kindle Heinrich Andreas Brunhart Johann Wachter	Alois Wille Alexander Sele	972	51.9	5
				Progressive Citizens' Party	David Strub Johann Beck Fidel Brunhart Josef Negele	Ernst Risch Louis Brunhart	901	48.1	4
Unterland	6	1,056		Progressive Citizens' Party	Eugen Schädler Philipp Elkuch Johann Georg Hasler Franz Xaver Hoop	Rudolf Marxer Oswald Bühler	652	67.6	4
				Patriotic Union	Josef Marxer Alois Hassler	Chrisostomus Öhri Ludwig Marock	313	32.4	2
Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch 2005, Vogt

Cultural depictions

The 1945 elections are depicted in the 1993 film Vent d'est, about a group of Russian collaborationist soldiers who sought asylum in Liechtenstein at the end of the war.