Constituent Assembly elections were held in Lithuania between 14 and 16 April 1920.[1] The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party emerged as the largest party, winning 46 of the 112 seats. Together with its allies, the Lithuanian Labour Federation and Farmers' Association, it secured an absolute majority in the Assembly.
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All 112 seats in the Constituent Assembly 56 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Electoral system
editThe law on the conduct of Seimas elections was promulgated by the Council of Lithuania in the official newspaper of the government, Vyriausybės žinios (Government News) on 30 October 1919.[2] Elections were to be universal, free and secret, and all citizens of Lithuania, both men and women over 21 years old, were allowed to vote. Citizens 24 years old or older were allowed to stand for election.
The elections were held using party-list proportional representation in nine multi-member constituencies. In practice, elections took place in only six of the nine constituencies as constituencies VII (Vilnius), VIII (Lida) and IX (Hrodna) were allocated to territories occupied by Poland during the Polish–Lithuanian War in 1920.
Parties and electoral groups (kuopa) were allowed to submit lists of candidates in constituencies, which had to be signed by at least fifty voters. As a result, there was a large number of small electoral lists in every constituency.
Results
edit| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party | 239,900 | 35.16 | 46 | |
| Peasant Union | 116,298 | 17.05 | 20 | |
| Social Democratic Party of Lithuania | 87,051 | 12.76 | 13 | |
| Labour Federation | 69,907 | 10.25 | 10 | |
| Democratic Jewish Union | 44,709 | 6.55 | 6 | |
| Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party | 39,264 | 5.75 | 9 | |
| Central Polish Electoral Committee | 29,156 | 4.27 | 3 | |
| Economic and Political Union of Lithuanian Farmers | 7,651 | 1.12 | 0 | |
| Farmers' Association | 7,535 | 1.10 | 3 | |
| Socialist Company of Workers and Farmers | 7,498 | 1.10 | 1 | |
| Lithuanian German Committee | 7,194 | 1.05 | 1 | |
| Party of National Progress | 4,288 | 0.63 | 0 | |
| Polish List | 3,665 | 0.54 | 0 | |
| Workers, Public Servants and the Landless | 3,513 | 0.51 | 0 | |
| Group of the Landless and Small Landowners of Panevėžys | 3,134 | 0.46 | 0 | |
| Santara | 2,591 | 0.38 | 0 | |
| Union of Working People | 2,535 | 0.37 | 0 | |
| Group of Landless in Biržai | 817 | 0.12 | 0 | |
| Kybartai German Group | 41 | 0.01 | 0 | |
| Independents | 5,544 | 0.81 | 0 | |
| Total | 682,291 | 100.00 | 112 | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Lietuvos statistikos metraštis,[3] Lietuva[4] | ||||
Seats by electoral district
edit| Electoral list[4] | I (Marijampolė) | II (Kaunas) | III (Raseiniai) | IV (Telšiai) | V (Panevėžys) | VI (Utena) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party | 14 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 46 |
| Peasant Union | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
| Social Democratic Party of Lithuania | − | 3 | 2 | − | 6 | 2 | 13 |
| Lithuanian Labour Federation | − | 4 | − | − | 6 | − | 10 |
| Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Democratic Jewish Union | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Farmers' Association | − | 3 | − | − | − | − | 3 |
| Central Polish Electoral Committee | − | 2 | 1 | − | − | − | 3 |
| Socialist Company of Workers and Farmers | − | − | − | 1 | − | − | 1 |
| Lithuanian German Committee | − | 1 | − | − | − | − | 1 |
| Total | 21 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 24 | 16 | 112 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1201 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- ^ "1919 m. Lietuvos Steigiamojo Seimo rinkimų įstatymas" [Law on Elections to the Lithuanian Constituent Seimas of 1919] (PDF). Šaltiniai (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ Lietuvos statistikos metraštis 1924–1926 m. (in Lithuanian). Vol. I. Kaunas: Valstybės spaustuvė. 1927. pp. 72–73.
- ^ a b "Į Steigiamąjį Seimą: Galutiniai vaisiai rinkimų į St. Seimą". Lietuva (in Lithuanian). Vol. 97, no. 379. 4 May 1920. p. 1.