1984 Soviet Union legislative election

Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Soviet Union on 4 March 1984.[1] They were the last in the Soviet Union to be held before Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and demokratizatsiya resulted in partially free elections in 1989. They were also the last direct elections to the Supreme Soviet, as in 1989 deputies were elected to the Congress of People's Deputies, who then elected the Supreme Soviet.

1984 Soviet Union legislative election
4 March 1984
All 1500 seats to the Soviet Supreme Soviet
  First party Second party
 
Leader Konstantin Chernenko
Party CPSU Independent
Leader since 13 February 1984
Seats won 1072 428
Percentage 71.5% 28.5%
Chairman of the Council of Ministers before election

Nikolai Tikhonov
CPSU

 Elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers

Nikolai Tikhonov
CPSU

Electoral system

Candidates had to be nominated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) or by a public organisation.[2] However, all public organisations were controlled by the party and were subservient to a 1931 law that required them to accept party rule.[2] The CPSU itself remained the only legal one in the country.[3]

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.[2] Turnout was required to be over 50% for the election to be valid.[2]

Candidates

CPSU candidates accounted for around three quarters of the nominees, whilst many of the others were members of Komsomol.[4]

Results

With over 184 million Soviet citizens voting in the election, over 99% of the votes went to a deputy to the Supreme Soviet, with over 100,000 votes against Party candidates, the lowest for any election in the Soviet Union.[5]

Party Soviet of the Union Soviet of Nationalities
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
Communist Party of the Soviet Union183,897,27899.94551183,892,27199.95521
Independents199229
Against109,0720.06–114,102 0.05–
Invalid/blank votes17––18––
Total184,006,373100750184,006,373100750
Registered voters/turnout184,029,412100–184,029,412100–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1630
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p1654
  4. Nohlen & Stöver, p1631
  5. Party, State, and Citizen in the Soviet Union: A Collection of Documents, edited by Mervyn Matthews, London: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1989, p. 5-6, 16-18.
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