Editing Prussian three-class franchise (section)

== Historical assessment ==
In recent times, the Prussian three-class franchise has received a more lenient assessment than in previous decades. It has, for example, been noted that both John Stuart Mill and [[Alexis de Tocqueville]] viewed the system favorably.{{Sfn|Richter|2017|pp=252 f}} When it was introduced, three-class suffrage was considered somewhat on the progressive side because its rolls were based not on land ownership but on taxes and because it was "universal," that is, because in principle every male was allowed to vote. For that reason it was strongly condemned by conservatives.{{Sfn|Richter|2017|pp=252–263}} A general, equal, secret, and direct suffrage for men, such as applied to elections to the Reichstag, was in 1914 enjoyed by only two of the 25 federal states, [[Baden]] and [[Württemberg]], and by the imperial territory [[Alsace–Lorraine|Alsace-Lorraine]], which Germany had taken from France in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] in 1871. In other countries such as Great Britain, Sweden, or the Netherlands, many men were not allowed to vote until World War I due to e.g. property requirements, while in Prussia every adult male had a vote even if for most it was lightly weighted. Universal male suffrage existed outside Germany only in Switzerland and France before the turn of the century. In Sweden, for example, only 8.2 percent of the total population was allowed to vote around 1900.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Poensgen |first=Oskar |title=Das Wahlrecht |publisher=Teubner |year=1909 |location=Leipzig |pages=134 f |language=de |trans-title=Voting Rights}}</ref>

Prussian electoral law was less democratic than in most other German states because of the lack of secrecy. In all other states except [[Waldeck, Hesse|Waldeck]], elections were considered secret after [[Bavaria]] introduced secret ballots in 1881, [[Braunschweig]] in 1899, [[Hesse]] in 1911 and [[Schwarzburg-Sondershausen]] in 1912. The secret ballot, however, often existed only on paper.

Indirect voting, on the other hand, was quite common in Europe at the time. It had been replaced by direct voting in most other German states by 1914.

In [[Mecklenburg-Schwerin]] and [[Mecklenburg Strelitz|Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], there was no elected parliamentary chamber before 1918. In [[Hamburg]] and, until 1905, in [[Lübeck]], a tax census (payment of a certain amount of tax as a prerequisite for the right to vote) applied. In Bavaria, Saxony, Hesse, [[Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt]], [[Schwarzburg-Sondershausen]], [[Lippe (district)|Lippe]] and Lübeck, the payment of direct taxes was a prerequisite for the right to vote; in [[Saxe-Altenburg]], [[Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]] and [[Reuss-Greiz]], payment of direct taxes and one's own household were required.

In addition to Prussia, a three-class electoral law applied in Braunschweig, Lippe, Saxony (only 1896–1909), Saxe-Altenburg and Waldeck. In Lübeck there was a two-class electoral system, with the first class electing 105 representatives and the second only 15. Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse, and from 1911 Alsace-Lorraine had a parliament with two chambers; one of which was not filled by popular election. In most states with only one chamber of parliament, some of the deputies were either appointed by the sovereign or elected by certain groups (such as those most highly taxed, large landowners or academics). In [[Bremen]] (with an eight-class franchise) only 68 of the 150 seats were chosen by general suffrage; in Hamburg, 80 of 160; in Braunschweig, 30 of 48.