1979 Soviet Union legislative election

(Redirected from Soviet Union legislative election, 1979) Legislative election in the Soviet Union

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4 March 1979

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All 1,500 seats in the Supreme Soviet

	First party	Second party

Leader	Leonid Brezhnev
Party	CPSU	Independents
Last election	1,096 seats	421 seats
Seats won	1,075	425
Seat change	21	4

Chairman of the Council of Ministers before election

Alexei Kosygin
CPSU

Elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers

Alexei Kosygin
CPSU

Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Soviet Union on 4 March 1979. They were the first elections held under the 1977 Soviet constitution, which slightly reformed the composition of the Supreme Soviet.

Electoral system

Candidates had to be nominated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) or by a public organisation. However, all public organisations were controlled by the party and were subservient to a 1931 law that required them to accept party rule. The CPSU itself remained the only legal one in the country.

Voters could vote against the CPSU candidate, but could only do so by using polling booths, whereas votes for the party could be cast simply by submitting a blank ballot. Turnout was required to be over 50% for the election to be valid.

While under the 1936 constitution the Supreme Soviet had been elected for a four-year term, and the Soviet of the Union had one deputy for every 300,000 people, the 1977 constitution extended the Supreme Soviet's term to five years, and made the number of seats in the lower house, the Soviet of the Union, equal to that of the upper Soviet of Nationalities, regardless of population size. While the five year-term was implemented immediately — the Supreme Soviet elected in 1974 had its term extended from 1978 to 1979 — the 1979 elections were the first in which both houses of the Supreme Soviet had the same number of members.

Candidates

CPSU candidates accounted for around three quarters of the nominees, whilst many of the others were members of Komsomol.

Results

Soviet of the Union


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Communist Party of the Soviet Union	174,734,459	99.89	549	–13
	Independents	174,734,459	99.89	201	–4
Against		185,730	0.11	–	–
Total		174,920,189	100.00	750	–17

Valid votes		174,920,189	100.00
Invalid/blank votes		32	0.00
Total votes		174,920,221	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		174,944,173	99.99
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Soviet of Nationalities


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Communist Party of the Soviet Union	174,770,398	99.91	526	–8
	Independents	174,770,398	99.91	224	+8
Against		149,783	0.09	–	–
Total		174,920,181	100.00	750	0

Valid votes		174,920,181	100.00
Invalid/blank votes		40	0.00
Total votes		174,920,221	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		174,944,173	99.99
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1630
Nohlen & Stöver, p1654
Верховный Совет СССР, Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Kavass, Igor I.; Christian, Gary I. (July 1979). "The 1977 Soviet Constitution: A Historical Comparison". Vanderbilt Law Review. 12 (3): 533. Retrieved 3 September 2024 – via scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu.
Osakwe, Christopher (1979). "The Theories and Realities of Modern Soviet Constitutional Law: An Analysis of the 1977 USSR Constitution". University of Pennsylvania Law Review. 127 (5): 1414. doi:10.2307/3311636. JSTOR 3311636. S2CID 5783531.
Nohlen & Stöver, p1631

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

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