1997 Besmenian presidential election
 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
 Mahler Kummstein | ||||||||||||||||
The 1997 Besmenian presidential election took place on 23 February 1997 and on 9 March 1997 in Besmenia. President Otto Schulz, who has been in office since 1985, was not allowed to stand for a second re-election.
The winner of the election was the former Federal Foreign Minister and Secretary-General of the ANS Gerhard Mahler, who remained President until 2003.
Background
Otto Schulz, who had been president since 1985 at the time of the election, was not allowed to run for a third term.
Election
The President of Besmenia is directly elected by the population once every six years. The election is held under a two-round system; if no candidate receives more than 50% of votes cast in the first round, then a second ballot occurs in which only those two candidates who received the greatest number of votes in the first round may stand.
Candidates
Results
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Gerhard Mahler | SDU | 42.1% | 53.6% | |||
| Ursula Kummstein | FBBP | 30% | 45.9% | |||
| Adam Radinger | BVP | 19.7% | ||||
| Michael Breitmann | NBP | 7.4% | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 0.8% | 0.5% | ||||
| Total | 100% | 100% | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 80,3% | 84,9% | ||||