Czechoslovak parliamentary election, 1946

Czechoslovak parliamentary election, 1946

26 May 1946

All 300 seats to the Constituent National Assembly 150 seats needed for a majority Turnout 93.9%   First party Second party Third party   Leader Klement Gottwald Petr Zenkl Jan Šrámek Party KSČ ČSNS ČSL Seats after 93 55 46 Seat change 63 27 24 Popular vote 2,205,697 1,298,980 1,111,009 Percentage 31.2% 18.4% 15.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jozef Lettrich Zdeněk Fierlinger Štefan Bašťovanský Party DS ČSSD KSS Seats after 43 37 21 Seat change 43 37 21 Popular vote 999,622 855,538 489,596 Percentage 14.1% 12.1% 6.9%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Vavro Šrobár Ivan Frlička Party SS SP Seats after 3 2 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 60,195 50,079 Percentage 0.9% 0.7%

Parliamentary elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 26 May 1946.^[1] The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia emerged as the largest party, winning 114 of the 300 seats (93 for the main party and 21 for its Slovak branch) with 38% of the vote (31 percent for the main party and 6.9 percent for the Slovak branch). This was the best performance for a Czechoslovak party up to that time; previously no Czechoslovak party had ever won more than 25 percent of the vote. Voter turnout was 93.9%.^[2]

Background

After World War II a 300-member interim National Assembly was formed and met for the first time on 28 October 1945.^[3] The Assembly created a new electoral system with the country divided into 28 multi-member constituencies. 150 members were elected from Bohemia, 81 from Moravia and Silesia and 69 from Slovakia. The voting age was lowered to 18, but only Czechs, Slovaks and other Slavs could register to vote.^[3]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia	2,205,697	31.2	93	+63
Czechoslovak National Socialist Party	1,298,980	18.4	55	+27
Czechoslovak People's Party	1,111,009	15.7	46	+24
Democratic Party	999,622	14.1	43	New
Czechoslovak Social Democracy	855,538	12.1	37	New
Communist Party of Slovakia	489,596	6.9	21	New
Freedom Party	60,195	0.9	3	New
Labour Party	50,079	0.7	2	New
Invalid/blank votes	59,427	–	–	–
Total	7,130,143	100	300	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

Following the elections the Communist Party formed a coalition government. However, they gradually took control of the entire government. After the non-Communist members resigned from the Cabinet on 25 February 1948, the Communists were able to take full control of the country.^[4]

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p471 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p472
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p464
4. Nohlen & Stöver, p457