1937 Soviet Union legislative election

1937 Soviet Union legislative election
	Soviet of the Union
	All 569 seats in the Soviet of the Union
	Soviet of the Union
	All 574 seats in the Soviet of Nationalities
Vyacheslav Molotov; CPSU	Vyacheslav Molotov; CPSU

Supreme Soviet elections were held in the Soviet Union on 12 December 1937.^[1] It was the first election held under the 1936 Soviet Constitution, which had formed the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to replace the old legislature, the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union.

Electoral system

The elections were originally announced as being multi-candidate; however, by halfway through the year the announcement was reversed due to the leadership worrying about the possible emergence of political opposition.^[2] However, during that early period a number of individuals attempted to hold the government to the multi-candidate promise, including members of the Russian Orthodox Church who attempted to field religious candidates as a result of Article 124^[3] of the new constitution, which promised freedom of religion. Many of the early individuals attempting to run as alternate candidates were arrested after the decision for multiple candidates was reversed. Additionally, the NKVD conducted mass arrests shortly before the elections.^[4]

Conduct

Despite the mass arrests and with the tone more subdued than with elections held in 1929, there were still minor waves of dissent and opposition to candidates, especially major political figures (including Mikhail Kalinin, Anastas Mikoyan, and even Joseph Stalin himself) as well as celebrities (such as Aleksei Tolstoy) and candidates opposed on the basis of ethnicity (such as ethnic Russians running in the Ukrainian SSR).^[4]

Results

Soviet of the Union



Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats
	BKB	All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)	89,844,271	99.30	461
	BKB	Independents	89,844,271	99.30	108
Against			632,074	0.70	–
Total			90,476,345	100.00	569

Valid votes			90,476,345	99.30
Invalid/blank votes			636,808	0.70
Total votes			91,113,153	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			94,138,159	96.79
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Soviet of Nationalities



Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats
	BKB	All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)	89,063,169	99.37	409
	BKB	Independents	89,063,169	99.37	165
Against			562,402	0.63	–
Total			89,625,571	100.00	574

Valid votes			89,625,571	98.37
Invalid/blank votes			1,487,582	1.63
Total votes			91,113,153	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			94,138,159	96.79
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
^ "Open Library" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
^ "Constitution (Fundamental law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". Constitution (Fundamental law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Red Star Press Ltd., London, 1978. Retrieved 1 September 2019. ARTICLE 134. Member s of all Soviets of Working People's Deputies - of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the Supreme Soviets of the Union Republics, the Soviets of Working People's Deputies of the Territories and Regions, the Supreme Soviets of the Autonomous Republics, the Soviets of Working People's Deputies of Autonomous Regions, area, district, city and rural (stanitsa, village, hamlet, kishlak, aul) Soviets of Working People's Deputies - are chosen by the electors on the basis of universal, direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot.
^ ^a ^b Fitzpatrick, Sheila. 1999. Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 179–182.

External sources

"State and Society Under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s," article by J. Arch Getty in Slavic Review, Vol. 50, No. 1 (Spring, 1991).
The Distinctiveness of Soviet Law. Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge, ed. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: Dordrecht (1987): 110–112.
Fitzpatrick, Sheila. 1999. Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 179–182.
Kalinin speech in elections to the Supreme Soviet 1937

[NS-1] Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

[2] "Open Library" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2022-12-05.

[3] "Constitution (Fundamental law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". Constitution (Fundamental law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Red Star Press Ltd., London, 1978. Retrieved 1 September 2019. ARTICLE 134. Member s of all Soviets of Working People's Deputies - of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the Supreme Soviets of the Union Republics, the Soviets of Working People's Deputies of the Territories and Regions, the Supreme Soviets of the Autonomous Republics, the Soviets of Working People's Deputies of Autonomous Regions, area, district, city and rural (stanitsa, village, hamlet, kishlak, aul) Soviets of Working People's Deputies - are chosen by the electors on the basis of universal, direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot.

[Fitzpatrick-4] Fitzpatrick, Sheila. 1999. Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 179–182.

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v t e Elections and referendums in the Soviet Union
Presidential elections	1990
Legislative elections	1922 1924 1925 1927 1929 1931 1935 1936 1937 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1979 1984 1989
Regional elections	1938 1939 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1980 1985 1990
Local elections	1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927
Referendums	1991