1976 West German federal election

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All 496 seats in the Bundestag[a] 249 seats needed for a majority
Registered	42,058,015 1.5%
Turnout	38,165,753 (90.7%) 0.4pp
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Helmut Kohl Helmut Schmidt Hans-Dietrich Genscher Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Last election 44.9%, 225 seats 45.8%, 230 seats 8.4%, 41 seats Seats won 243[c] 214[d] 39[b] Seat change 18 16 2 Popular vote 18,394,801 16,099,019 2,995,085 Percentage 48.6% 42.6% 7.9% Swing 3.7pp 3.2pp 0.5pp
Results by constituency for the first votes. Grey denotes seats won by the CDU/CSU; red denotes seats won by the SPD.
Government before election First Schmidt cabinet SPD–FDP Government after election Second Schmidt cabinet SPD–FDP

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Federal elections were held in West Germany on 3 October 1976 to elect the members of the 8th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU alliance became the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor.

Campaign

The coalition of the SPD and the FDP wanted to be re-elected, with the SPD, since 1974 led by Helmut Schmidt, the party's candidate for Chancellor. The CDU and the CSU tried to achieve an absolute majority of the votes to make CDU chairman Helmut Kohl Chancellor.

Opinion polls

Results

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Elected	West Berlin	Total	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	16,099,019	42.56	100	16,471,321	43.70	114	214	10	224	–18
	Christian Democratic Union	14,367,302	37.99	96	14,423,157	38.26	94	190	11	201	+15
	Christian Social Union	4,027,499	10.65	13	4,008,514	10.63	40	53	0	53	+5
	Free Democratic Party	2,995,085	7.92	39	2,417,683	6.41	0	39	1	40	–2
	National Democratic Party	122,661	0.32	0	136,028	0.36	0	0	0	0	0
	German Communist Party	118,581	0.31	0	170,855	0.45	0	0	0	0	0
	Communist Party of Germany	22,714	0.06	0	8,822	0.02	0	0	0	0	New
	Action Community of Independent Germans	22,202	0.06	0	19,490	0.05	0	0	0	0	New
	Communist League of West Germany	20,018	0.05	0	21,414	0.06	0	0	0	0	New
	European Workers' Party	6,811	0.02	0	3,177	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Christian Bavarian People's Party	6,720	0.02	0	4,876	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	International Marxist Group	4,759	0.01	0	2,037	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Action Community Fourth Party	4,723	0.01	0	2,636	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	5%-Block	2,940	0.01	0	985	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independent Workers' Party	765	0.00	0	499	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	United Left	701	0.00	0	217	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Right and Freedom Party				227	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents and voter groups				3,706	0.01	0	0	0	0	0
Total		37,822,500	100.00	248	37,695,644	100.00	248	496	22	518	0
Valid votes		37,822,500	99.10		37,695,644	98.77
Invalid/blank votes		343,253	0.90		470,109	1.23
Total votes		38,165,753	100.00		38,165,753	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		42,058,015	90.75		42,058,015	90.75
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Results by state

Constituency seats

List seats

Aftermath

The coalition between the SPD and the FDP remained in government, with Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor. Between the "sister parties" of CDU and Bavarian CSU there emerged a critical conflict, as the CSU leader Franz Josef Strauß wanted to break both the united Bundestag group of the parties and the agreement not to compete against each other in any Land. Later, this attack was withdrawn, while Strauß became candidate for chancellor for the 1980 elections.