# 1919 Austrian Constituent Assembly election

Constituent Assembly elections were held in Austria on 16 February 1919.
The Social Democratic Workers' Party emerged as the largest party, winning 72 of the 170 seats. The party was largely supported by the working class, whilst farmers and the middle class voted mainly for the anti-Anschluss Christian Social Party. Voter turnout was 84.4%. As Czechoslovakia prevented their eligible population from participating in the election, and Italy and Yugoslavia had gained control of South Tyrol (as a result of the 1915 Treaty of London) and Lower Styria (following border conflicts), respectively, voting only was held in small parts of those eligible territories, and representatives were instead appointed in proportion to parties' total overall vote share.
The first meeting of the assembly was on 4 March 1919. The Sudeten German Social Democrats organised a series of demonstrations in support of their right of self-determination. Across seven cities 54 persons were killed and another 84 wounded by the Czech military and police.

## Electoral system

The members of the Constituent National Assembly were elected in multi-member constituencies having between four and nine seats each by proportional representation. The smallest constituency was originally set to elect three seats, but did not do so due to Yugoslavia having gained control of most of Lower Styria.
This election was the first election in which all women were allowed to vote. German citizens living in Austria, Lower Styria, and South Tyrol and Sudeten Germans living in the newly-formed Czechoslovakia were also allowed to vote in the elections, despite Czechoslovak objections. Austrian citizens living in Germany were also allowed to vote in the elections for the Weimar National Assembly in the same year.

## Results

The two main parties, the SDAPÖ and the CS, formed a coalition government after the elections. Although it had broken up by mid-1920, it was followed for a short time by a transitional coalition of SDAPÖ, CS, and the Greater German People's Party, a successor of the German People's Party following a merger with the Greater German Union. Ultimately, a new constitution was agreed on 1 October 1920. Fresh elections were held on 17 October.
Seats :
| | Social Democratic Workers' Party | Social Democratic Workers' Party | Social Democratic Workers' Party | 1,211,393 | 40.76 | 72 |
| | Christian Social Party and allies | | Christian Social Party | 687,465 | 23.13 | 47 |
| | Christian Social Party and allies | | Lower Austrian Farmers' Union | 222,304 | 7.48 | 12 |
| | Christian Social Party and allies | | Christian Social Citizens' and Workers' Party | 62,099 | 2.09 | 0 |
| | Christian Social Party and allies | | Tyrolean Farmers' Association | 50,361 | 1.69 | 3 |
| | Christian Social Party and allies | | Tyrolean People's Club | 46,030 | 1.55 | 7 |
| | Christian Social Party and allies | Total | Total | 1,068,259 | 35.94 | 69 |
| | German-National parties | | German-National Party | 174,738 | 5.88 | 8 |
| | German-National parties | | German Democrats | 64,073 | 2.16 | 3 |
| | German-National parties | | German People's Party | 59,919 | 2.02 | 2 |
| | German-National parties | | German Freedom and Order Party | 56,306 | 1.89 | 5 |
| | German-National parties | | Styrian Farmers' Party | 47,021 | 1.58 | 3 |
| | German-National parties | | National Democrats | 46,507 | 1.56 | 0 |
| | German-National parties | | Carinthian Farmers' Association | 33,496 | 1.13 | 2 |
| | German-National parties | | National Socialist Workers' Party | 23,252 | 0.78 | 0 |
| | German-National parties | | German Peoples' Election Committee | 15,430 | 0.52 | 1 |
| | German-National parties | | Democratic Association of Cities | 12,336 | 0.42 | 1 |
| | German-National parties | | Free Salzburg Farmers' League | 8,507 | 0.29 | 1 |
| | German-National parties | | Democratic Economic Party | 3,828 | 0.13 | 0 |
| | German-National parties | | German-Austrian People's Party | 1,645 | 0.06 | 0 |
| | German-National parties | Total | Total | 547,058 | 18.41 | 26 |
| | Democratic parties | | Centrist Democrats | 48,995 | 1.65 | 1 |
| | Democratic parties | | Democratic Party | 15,053 | 0.51 | 0 |
| | Democratic parties | | Democratic Middle-Class Party | 5,960 | 0.20 | 0 |
| | Democratic parties | | Economic People's Party | 411 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Democratic parties | Total | Total | 70,419 | 2.37 | 1 |
| | United Czechoslovak Parties | United Czechoslovak Parties | United Czechoslovak Parties | 67,396 | 2.27 | 1 |
| | Jewish National Party | Jewish National Party | Jewish National Party | 7,770 | 0.26 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 2,972,295 | 100.00 | 170 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,972,295 | 99.16 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 25,239 | 0.84 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,997,534 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 3,547,742 | 84.49 | |
| Source: Government of Austria |||||||