Why did the Nazi Party lose 4% of the vote between the July 1932 and November 1932 elections?

 The NSDAP (the official acronym for the Nazi Party) did extremely well in the July 31st 1932 election winning 37.3% of the popular vote despite earlier internal rebellions by Walter Stennes (in Berlin) and Otto Strasser. There was much opposition in the rank-and-file to Hitler’s policy of courting Conservative allies. Hitler was also dogged by rumours of sexual abuse and the subsequent suicide of his niece Angela “Geli” Raubel (September 1931).

However the deteriorating economy and Hitler’s charismatic driven campaign strategy played to the Nazis strength. Air power allowed Nazi leaders to crisscross the country where they selectively targeted their message to receptive demographics.

By November 1932 the situation had changed. The party was struggling financially (having thrown a great deal of resources into the July election) and Hitler’s star was falling as a consequence of President Paul von Hindenburg’s refusal to appoint him chancellor.

The Communists were also in the ascendancy and together with the smaller German National People’s Party made a significant dent into the NSDAP base. THE NSDAP won 33.1% of the popular vote down over 4% from the July figure. The Communists increased their share from 14.6 % to 16.9%.

Intentionally directed vote splitting was a big factor and much credit for this strategy goes to von Hindenburg ally Kurt von Schleicher who served briefly as chancellor following the November election (December 3rd, 1932 - January 28th, 1933) .

Unfortunately the temporary respite didn’t last long. Von Schleicher would eventually be pushed aside by Frantz von Papen (himself a former Chancellor) and his long time political opponent.

Von Papen was backed by the German Nationalists and arguably made one of the greatest miscalculations in modern history in believing that he had the wherewithal to control Hitler. He consequently acted accordingly with this dangerous Faustian bargain. In late January a deal was agreed to making Hitler Chancellor with von Papen serving in the capacity of the Vice Chancellor role. The positions became official on the 30th of January 1933.

Source: Adolf Hitler: 1930-1933