Elections in the USSR are “a national holiday, a triumph of the Soviet people,” during which, “in an atmosphere of mighty patriotic upsurge,” millions of Soviet people, by unanimously voting for the candidates of the bloc of communists and non-party members, “confirmed the victory of socialism”...
T The starting point for the electoral system in force in the USSR was 1936, the time of the adoption of the Stalinist Constitution.
How history was made
The new election procedure provided for “dividing” the country into electoral districts. One district covered an area with 300 thousand population. One deputy was elected from each district to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. From among these people's representatives, the Council of the Union was formed in parliament. The second chamber of parliament - the Council of Nationalities - was designed to "reflect the special specific interests of workers of all nationalities of the USSR, associated with their national characteristics." Deputies to the Council of Nationalities were “supplied” by 25 districts from each union republic, 11 districts from each autonomous republic, five districts from autonomous regions and one from national districts. Each territorial unit could elect one deputy. The first elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR took place on December 12, 1937. Until perestroika times, their technology remained virtually unchanged.
Only the bloc of communists and non-partisans always stood in elections, and it invariably won, with a result close to 99 percent. That is, theoretically, the existence of those who disagreed in the country was then allowed. However, in the Central Asian republics of the former USSR this figure could be significantly higher - dissent was less developed there.
National Day of Expression of Will
In Soviet times, polling stations opened at six in the morning. But, even despite such an early hour, conscious citizens were already crowding around them.
The secret of such consciousness is simple. The fact is that on election day, there were buffets at the polling stations that sold any sausages and candy that were in short supply. Having cast their vote for a candidate, any Soviet citizen, as gratitude, could purchase one or another delicacy and drink 100 grams by the glass, but without going overboard - this was strictly monitored by the police. People went to polling stations, where they were given ballot papers containing only one name. No collection of signatures to register candidates, no election campaigning. Everything was orderly and neat. At some point, the population was informed that elections would take place on such and such a date. At the same time, it was announced who would be the candidate from one or another area. The man's biography was posted, printed on coated paper. But often no one read the “labor path” of uncontested candidates. Because everyone knew that if someone’s biography appeared under the heading “Your Candidate,” then that person would be elected. Simply because there are no others. No competition.
By the way, Soviet-era laws did not at all prohibit the nomination of several candidates for one seat. But that was in theory, but in practice, anyone who would try to move forward “unauthorized” (if such a heresy even occurred to someone) would simply not be able to do this. Candidates were nominated by labor collectives, which were completely controlled by party bodies and, by definition, could not make unplanned decisions. And if anything happened, the election commissions they formed were always ready and would simply not include an unplanned candidate on the ballot.
The Bloc of Communists and Non-Party People nominated exactly as many candidates for deputies as there were deputy seats, and all of them without fail won the elections, becoming “people’s deputies” - that’s what all deputies from the district to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were called in those days.
Attendance is required
Our people were not marched to the polls back then, even in the army. But despite this, the turnout for elections in those days was almost one hundred percent.
This was neither a propaganda stunt nor postscripts. Such a high result is associated with a lot of work carried out before the elections. Firstly, candidates were nominated in labor collectives. And even Brezhnev, in order to become a candidate for deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, had to go to a meeting of some labor collective and give his keynote speech to it. Then listen to the instructions to the deputy. And only after this, a meeting of the labor collective made a decision to nominate Leonid Ilyich as a candidate for deputy of the Supreme Council.
Secondly, there were large posters everywhere calling on citizens to vote. Thirdly, each voter received notification several times by mail - where, when, at what time he was supposed to vote. Agitators from polling stations walked around the apartments. But they did not campaign for any candidate, as they do now, but found out how many people lived in a given apartment, checked with their lists whether everyone could come to vote at the polling station. If there were patients who could not arrive, they were immediately written down on the list where the portable urn should be sent. If someone was going to go somewhere, they explained where and how to get an absentee ballot. Voting on this day in the USSR was carried out everywhere - on trains, at airports, on ships, etc. This is where the voter turnout is so high.
And on election day, pioneers stood near the ballot boxes, saluting everyone who cast their ballots. There were booths with curtains, but only a few went there. The rest, after receiving the ballot in their hands, went and immediately threw it into the ballot box. It was unspokenly believed that if a person enters a booth, it means that something is wrong here: either he votes against, or writes a complaint, or scolds the Soviet government.
~ As a rule, from 99.98 to 99.99% of voters took part in the elections, which was strictly monitored by party, trade union, Komsomol and other functionaries who “did not eat bread for nothing.” Ignoring elections was considered something harmful, antisocial behavior and the first step on the slippery slope of an “anti-Soviet.”
You could vote for yourself, your spouse, and “that guy” if he gave you his passport. Although this act was not officially authorized, it was not prosecuted in any way - somehow these same 99.99% had to be collected.
Olga SEDOVA
In the sensational book by Yu. Zhukov “The Other Stalin” there is a scan of a sample ballot for the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1937.
Further commentary by Yu. Zhukov: “Here it is, indisputable proof of the elections to the Soviet parliament that were being prepared in 1937 on an alternative basis - with several candidates. Of course, this newsletter is just a sample. This is the only reason why the name of the district, the names of the candidates, and the not yet established date of the elections themselves are arbitrary. Of course, the main instruction is: “Leave the name of ONE candidate for whom you vote on the ballot paper, cross out the rest.”
Unfortunately, we had to wait half a century for such elections...”
I will post photocopies from Pravda that clarify this issue. At the same time, I invite the reader to call the works of professional historians “exploring” the political history of 1937 with the words they deserve...
Pravda, October 15, 1937
As we can see, on October 14, at a meeting of the Central Election Commission, three forms of ballot papers were approved, each of which proposed to cross out all candidates except the one for whom the voter votes.
In the newly published book by Suslov A.B. “Special contingent in the Perm region (1929 - 1953)” this resolution is not mentioned, and the author, apparently remembering the grant received (that same propaganda series “History of Stalinism” from ROSSPEN), prefers to agree that there is no automatic granting of voting rights was.
November 21, 1937 Pravda specifically explains that there can be “two, three or more” candidates.
I would like to draw your attention to the liberal attitude of the “totalitarian” regime towards documents: at the elections one could also present a union card.
Such a measure as the mandatory sealing of ballots in an envelope made the secrecy of voting in 1937 more guaranteed, and left-wing ballot stuffing more difficult.
Pravda, October 27, 1937
It is clear that Voroshilov could not be torn apart by all the constituencies that wanted to nominate him; most likely he withdrew his candidacy in this constituency. Pravda reports that tractor driver Daria Tsygankova has been registered as a candidate in the Semiluksky district.
Let's see how many candidates were eventually registered for one constituency using the example of the Georgian SSR.
Pravda, November 17, 1937
In the end they were elected.
Pravda, November 19, 1937
In my opinion, it was the discussion and nomination of candidates in real meetings of people working side by side that made elections truly democratic. That’s why real representatives of the people were elected to the highest legislative body of the USSR, and that’s why I think Stalin and the Stalinists real Democrats.
As for the pressure and intrigues of government officials, where would we be without it? But at a live meeting it is more difficult to push through a candidate the people do not like. Many of us remember our indifference at similar meetings in the late USSR, when the people lazily voted for candidates proposed by the authorities. But this laziness and agreement came from a general satisfaction with life. Today the authorities would try to return this order...
The institution of general elections turns 75 this year. The first vote, in which the country's population participated more or less in full, took place in 1937 - then the Supreme Council of the USSR was elected. There were no violations during voting then, there were no stuffing, no falsification of votes, and no noisy election campaign was observed either.
The first elections that were even called “democratic” were the elections of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in December 1937. Then they were held for the first time in accordance with the Constitution of 1936, which guaranteed “universal, equal, direct elections by secret ballot to all bodies of power.” For the first time, the election commissions included not only party members and proletarians, but also non-party members, as well as women and representatives of youth organizations. There were even foreign observers: they noted that the Soviet system had taken a step towards democracy by expanding the number of participants and observers, but all candidates were still nominated under the strict control of the Communists, and there was no one to choose from on the ballot.
After 1937, elections were not held for almost 10 years because of the war. Then the Supreme Council of the USSR of the second convocation was elected - this happened in 1946. And after that, elections were held every four years. Only at the end of Soviet power did the frequency increase to 5 years - obviously due to poor health and sudden deaths of most members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
There were practically no differences between the election process in different years. A single candidate was nominated from the bloc of communists and non-partisans, and he was the only position on the ballot. Citizens came to polling stations, where they were greeted with music, food, and even souvenirs and children's toys. Those who ignored their civic duty were dragged to the polling stations with the help of so-called agitators: they walked from door to door (and in later times called) and asked why this or that Soviet person had not yet come to the ballot box and checked in. The failure to appear was a big scandal, almost anti-Soviet. Therefore, the number of Soviet citizens who voted did not fall below 99% - only tenths of values fluctuated.
The last true Soviet elections were held in 1984, and they also took place on March 4. 99.94% of ballots were cast for candidates from the bloc of communists and non-party members. And already in 1989, people’s deputies were elected, and these were the first truly alternative elections, although, according to many observers, they were far from real democracy. Nevertheless, it was thanks to them that such people as, for example, Andrei Sakharov got into the Soviet parliament.
During yesterday's day of silence, our correspondent tried to talk to those voters who witnessed the elections in the USSR. I must say that the Soviet people were powerfully intimidated: the combination of a video camera and the word “election” scared people away better than tear gas. But he still managed to talk to a couple of people, and this couple made it clear in every possible way that they were completely satisfied with the Soviet elections.
But one woman was not so benevolent. Unfortunately, he cannot quote her words, since she actively campaigned for one of the candidates and made all sorts of accusations. However, the general meaning of her speeches was this: in the Soviet Union they knew how to rig results no worse than in modern times.
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November 20th, 2015
In the history of election campaigns of the Soviet period, the elections of February 10, 1946 rightfully occupy a special place. These were the first elections held in the USSR less than six months after the end of World War II, when its devastating consequences were still fully reflected in the socio-economic and cultural life of the country. Election commissions were faced with a huge mass of unresolved problems related to the preparation of elections, registration of voters, the formation of polling stations, and the organization of counting votes following the election results.
The change in the borders of the USSR in the West and East of the country following the Second World War put on the agenda the issue of organizing elections in the territories that became part of the USSR, their political and state status and representation in the highest bodies of state power, which required appropriate decisions made at highest political level. In addition to the huge number of problems associated with the organizational side of the electoral process, as well as geopolitical changes in the post-war system, which all electoral bodies of post-war states faced to one degree or another, issues also arose due to purely domestic specifics. The Soviet electoral system did not have sufficient experience in organizing and conducting direct elections to a national body, which in the pre-war period were held for a fairly short period of less than four years.
The first (after 1917) direct elections of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the first convocation took place on December 12, 1937, and the first session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was held on January 12-19, 1938. In subsequent years, by-elections were held several times: in March and June 1940, in January and February 1941. By-elections were held in connection with the expansion of the territory of the USSR, as well as as a result of the early termination of the powers of some representatives of the deputy corps as a result of large-scale political repressions (the vacant mandates of “enemies of the people” were promptly filled in new elections). In connection with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, on December 5, 1941, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided to postpone the elections for a year; subsequently, the powers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were repeatedly extended for the next year (by decrees of December 9, 1942, of December 16, 1943, of December 14, 1944). The powers of lower-level councils were similarly extended. In fact, the term of office of the deputy corps of the Supreme Council of the first convocation was more than eight years instead of four.
Naturally, over the years, the necessary basis for organizing and holding elections has been lost, and the experience of conducting pre-election work has been largely forgotten. A significant part of the deputy corps of local councils (which formed the personnel basis of the electoral system in the all-Union elections of 1937) died during the occupation, were drafted into the army, and moved inland during the evacuation of the population, industrial enterprises and institutions. In addition, in the part of the territory of the USSR that was subjected to enemy occupation during hostilities, the elected bodies of state power and local self-government were not fully restored (the formation of the restored bodies was not carried out during elections; vacant mandates were filled through the co-optation of deputies by higher councils). In a number of localities (primarily in Western Ukraine and Lithuania), participation in the work of district and precinct election commissions was associated with a risk to life. The destruction of the territorial infrastructure (including the destruction of many settlements), losses, largely irreversible, among the personnel of election commissions, large-scale migration processes, changes in the composition of the population required the organization of all work on preparing the elections “from scratch.”
Candidate for deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the Khanty-Mansiysk National District Kh.P. Pukhlenkina (center) among members of the district election commission, 1946
In accordance with the Constitution adopted in 1936, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR consisted of two chambers. The Council of the Union was elected by citizens in electoral districts according to the norm: one deputy per 300 thousand population. The Council of Nationalities in the second convocation was elected by union and autonomous republics, autonomous regions and national districts according to the norm: 25 deputies from each union republic, 11 deputies from each autonomous republic, 5 deputies from each autonomous region and one deputy from each national (hereinafter - Autonomous) Okrug. In the period between sessions, the highest legislative and administrative body was the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, elected by both chambers. The latter's competence, in particular, included resolving issues related to the convening of sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, interpreting existing laws of the USSR, issuing decrees and calling new elections to the Supreme Council. The Presidium also developed and approved the regulations on elections, set the date for their holding, as well as uniform forms of election documentation.
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 9, 1945 “On holding elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR” in connection with “the end of the war and the expiration of the powers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the first convocation,” elections of deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the second convocation were scheduled for February 10, 1946. On October 11, 1945, the Regulations on elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were approved. To organize the elections, a Central Election Commission was created consisting of 15 members (chairman - V.V. Kuznetsov, deputy - N.G. Bruevich, secretary - N.N. Shatalin).
The current procedure for elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR initially did not provide for the possibility of a special procedure for the representation of voters located outside the territory of the USSR. However, at the time of the elections, a significant part of the military personnel of the units and formations of the former active army were located outside the USSR: in the countries of Eastern Europe liberated from fascism, in Northeast China and North Korea (after the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945), as well as Northern Iran ( into whose territory Soviet troops were introduced in August 1941 and remained there until the spring of 1946). Despite the beginning of the process of demobilization of older conscripts and the partial redeployment of military units to the territory of the USSR, in total more than 2 million military personnel remained outside the USSR. It is clear that the question of the participation in the elections of this active part of the electoral corps, who literally bore the Victory in the Great Patriotic War on their shoulders, could not remain unresolved. Therefore, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 14, 1945, it was established that military personnel located outside the country take part in elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in special electoral districts formed in these units and formations at the rate of 100 thousand voters per electoral district , and elect one representative each to the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities.
A stamp issued specially for Election Day, February 10, 1946.
The first Soviet election-themed stamp
Although initially the right to participate in elections in special constituencies was stipulated only in relation to military personnel, already on October 30, 1945, commanders of military units and military formations were allowed to include civilian employees, family members of military personnel living with them, as well as citizens on official duty in the voter lists. business trips in the areas where these units and formations are located. Later, the right to participate in elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in polling stations included in special electoral districts was extended to employees of diplomatic, trade missions, press organs and other Soviet citizens staying in the areas where military units and military formations of the Red Army and Navy are located outside the USSR.
In total, during the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the second convocation, 26 special electoral districts were formed, in which 52 deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were elected. Almost all of them are commanders of the Great Victory, former commanders of armies and fronts, who were the flower of the Russian military elite. Among them are Marshals of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, I.S. Konev, K.A. Meretskov, K.K. Rokossovsky, F.I. Tolbukhin, future marshals of the Soviet Union S.S. Biryuzov, V.I. Chuikov, V.D. Sokolovsky, air chief marshals A.E. Golovanov and A.A. Novikov, Chief Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov, marshals of armored forces P.S. Rybalko and Ya.N. Fedorenko, Marshal of Artillery N.D. Yakovlev, famous army commanders A.V. Gorbatov, A.S. Zhadov, D.D. Lelyushenko and others. This is how the victorious army voted for its military leaders.
A group of deputies - senior officers at the first session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the second convocation (1946). In the first row is Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky and Chief Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov
In addition to organizing voting for military personnel, the election organizers faced the question of voting in the territories that became part of the USSR during and after the Second World War. After the publication of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on holding closed elections, a resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was adopted, granting the Military Council of the Special Military District (Konigsberg), the commanders of military units and formations located on its territory, the right to exercise the functions of executive committees of councils of working people's deputies, provided for by the Regulations about elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In December 1945, the Military Council of the district approved the composition of the election commissions, and 8 polling stations were formed in Koenigsberg and surrounding areas. To resolve issues of organizing elections, a political department of the Civil Administration of the district was created. At the same time, civil enterprises, organizations, and institutions carried out work to compile and clarify voter lists. By January 10, 1946, 6,449 people were included in the voter lists at civil polling stations, and by Election Day this figure had increased and amounted to 9,419 people on February 10, 1946. In the elections in February 1946, voters in the Koenigsberg region elected one deputy to the Council of the Union (K.N. Galitsky was elected) and one deputy from the Leningrad district to the Council of Nationalities (the future Soviet Prime Minister A.N. Kosygin became a deputy for this district).
Member of the Central Election Commission for Elections
to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, three times Hero of the Soviet Union
Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin (1945)
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 2, 1946 “On the formation of the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Region as part of the Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR”, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Region was formed in the territories of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands with its center in the city of Toyohara (now Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk). Accordingly, these territories were included in the constituencies formed on the territory of the region (at the same time, voters located on the territory of the military base in Port Arthur leased by the USSR voted in a special electoral district).
In addition to part of the territory of the former East Prussia, the Kuril Islands, and the southern part of Sakhalin Island, elections were also organized in the Tuva Autonomous Region, which until its voluntary entry into the USSR in October 1944 was an independent state. The entry of the Tuvan People's Republic into the USSR as an autonomous region required integration into the political system of the union state, which inevitably entailed radical changes in the state apparatus and reform of local authorities. The first elections on the territory of Tuva to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the first convocation, in accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 11, 1944, took place on April 29, 1945 (these were the only elections during the war period) and were held according to special rules (in particular, along with Republican, regional, district public organizations and societies received the right to nominate candidates for deputies in rural areas at general meetings of peasants). Elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the second convocation were held in accordance with the all-Union Regulations on Elections..., however, when the districts of the Tuva Autonomous Region were formed, a kind of “benefit” was provided: although the population of the TAO was less than 300 thousand people, it was given one mandate in the Council of the Union . Thus, in total, 6 deputies were elected from the Tuva Autonomous Region with a population of about 100 thousand people (1 deputy to the Council of the Union and 5 deputies to the Council of Nationalities).
During the preparation and organization of elections, government bodies also had to resolve issues related to the status of certain categories of the population: former prisoners of war, displaced persons, as well as representatives of forcibly deported peoples. In this regard, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a number of clarifications in closed resolutions. Thus, a decree of December 1, 1945 established that “citizens of the USSR resettled in wartime from one region of the USSR to another - Germans, Kalmyks, Karachais, Balkars, Chechens, Ingush, Crimean Tatars, as well as other special settlers are included in voter lists on a general basis.” Another resolution explained that Soviet citizens who had been repatriated and sent to their place of residence, as well as those who were in collection points (i.e., in filtration camps) were included in the voter lists on a general basis. The exceptions were repatriates deprived of voting rights, serving sentences in places of detention, as well as those under investigation and held in custody in connection with this. Citizens subject to repatriation and who were outside the USSR by election day were included in the voter lists and took part in elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in special electoral districts.
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 7, 1945, on an amnesty in connection with the victory over Nazi Germany, persons sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not more than three years and to more lenient penalties, as well as those convicted of unauthorized departure from enterprises, were released from punishment. military industry and other enterprises that were subject to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 26, 1941, and military personnel sentenced with a suspended sentence. Persons convicted of military crimes under paragraphs 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 10a, 14, 15 and 16 of Article 193 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR and the corresponding articles of the criminal codes of other union republics were also exempt from punishment. It was ordered to cease proceedings on all investigative cases and cases not considered by the courts regarding crimes committed before the publication of this Decree. A significant part of them were cases of evasion of mobilization into the army, desertion, and unauthorized abandonment of a unit. Thus, yesterday's amnestied deserters were restored to their voting rights and were formally subject to inclusion in the voter lists. However, locally this decision was perceived ambiguously, and in practice there were cases of non-compliance with this norm by election commissions.
In 1945-1946, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a number of decisions on the possibility of restoring Soviet citizenship to former citizens of Russia who found themselves in the territories of other states after 1917, as well as citizens of the USSR who had lost Soviet citizenship (Special decrees were adopted in relation to former fellow citizens living in the territories of Manchuria and Bulgaria). Those restored to citizenship were included in the voter lists for special electoral districts. At the same time, the right to freely voluntarily renounce Soviet citizenship and resettle to Poland was granted to persons of Polish and Jewish nationality who had previously held Polish citizenship, and members of their families. Those interested had until November 1, 1945 to submit a corresponding application to the Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to consider issues of admission, exit and deprivation of USSR citizenship. But since many of them lived in remote regions or served in the Red Army, the procedure for renouncing citizenship was delayed, and in the practice of the executive committees of local councils and military units, conflicts constantly arose related to their registration as voters.
To increase turnout, additional measures were taken to organize voting for certain categories of voters. In small units of the Red Army and NKVD troops located in the border strip, in the regions of the Far North, Far East and Central Asia, as well as for voters on the islands, in wintering areas of the Far North and in nomadic places, it was allowed, as an exception, to create polling stations with a population of from 25 to 50 voters. Polling stations were organized on ships and on long-distance passenger trains. For polar stations and wintering areas, it was allowed to transmit data on voting results via radio communication.
The 1946 elections, like all Soviet elections, were uncontested: voting was carried out for one candidate. In fact, these elections, coupled with the elections of 1937, laid the foundation for the tradition of uncontested elections in the USSR, which survived until the end of the 1980s.
Sergey Zaslavsky, Head of the Public Relations and Information Department of the Central Election Commission of Russia, Doctor of Law
