1937 Soviet Union legislative election

← 1936 12 December 1937 1946 →

Soviet of the Union

All 569 seats in theSoviet of the Union

Party Seats All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) 461 Independents 108 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Soviet of Nationalities

All 574 seats in theSoviet of Nationalities

Party Seats All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) 409 Independents 165 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Chairman of the Council of Ministers before Chairman of the Council of Ministers after Vyacheslav Molotov CPSU Vyacheslav Molotov CPSU

Supreme Soviet elections were held in theSoviet Union on 12 December 1937.^[1] It was the first election held under the1936 Soviet Constitution, which had formed theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to replace the old legislature, theCongress of Soviets of the Soviet Union.

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 theRussian 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, theNKVD conducted mass arrests shortly before the elections.^[4]

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

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	BKB		All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)	89,844,271	99.30	461
			Independents			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

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	BKB		All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)	89,063,169	99.37	409
			Independents			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

• "State and Society Under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s," article byJ. Arch Getty inSlavic 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

• Legislative elections in the Soviet Union
• 1937 elections in the Soviet Union
• One-party elections
• Single-candidate elections in the Soviet Union
• December 1937 in Europe
• 1937 elections in Asia
• 1937 elections in Europe
• December 1937 in Asia

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