1938 Nicaraguan Constitutional Assembly election

The Nicaraguan Constitutional Assembly election of 1938 was held on 6 November.

A presidential election was held in Nicaragua in March 1939.

The elections held on 6 November 1938 were even more of a sham than those that named Anastasio Somoza García president in 1936. The Conservatives decided to abstain again, while the ballot boxes and ballots were distributed throughout the country by the quartermaster general of the Guardia Nacional. The final results were made available within twenty-four hours. In 1938 the Genuino Conservatives decided to field candidates for the Constituent Assembly although the Conservative party’s leadership vehemently opposed the plan.[1]

After adopting the Constitution in March 1939, the Assembly became a legislative body, replacing the Congress until 1 May 1947. This new ‘Congress’ then chose Anastasio Somoza García as President for the period from 1939-1947.[2]

Legislative election

The following is a table of election results:[3]

Parties and alliances	Votes	%	Seats / Assembly (November 1938)	Seats / Senate (March 1939)	Seats / Chamber of Deputies (March 1939)
Liberal Nationalist Party (PLN)	??	??	37	12*	26
Conservative Nationalist Party (PCN)	??	??	12	03	09
Traditional Conservative Party (PCT)	??	??	08	01	07
Total valid votes	??	100%	57	16*	42
Spoilt and invalid votes	??	??	–	–	–
Total votes/Turnout	??	??	–	–	–
Registered voters	??	–	–	–	–
Population	750,000	–	–	–	–

(*) Fifteen elected members and all ex-Presidents of whom only one (General José María Moncada Tapia Liberal) is sitting.

References

1. Walter, Knut. The regime of Anastasio Somoza, 1936-1956. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina. 1993. Pp. 99.
2. Millett, Richard. Guardians of the dynasty: a history of the U.S. created Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua and the Somoza Family. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. 1977. Pp. 194.
3. Political handbook of the world 1944. New York, 1945. Pp 131.

Bibliography

• Alexander, Robert J. Communism in Latin America. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. 1957.
• Elections in the Americas A Data Handbook Volume 1. North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Edited by Dieter Nohlen. 2005.
• Leonard, Thomas M. The United States and Central America, 1944-1949. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. 1984.
• MacRenato, Ternot. 1991. Somoza: seizure of power, 1926-1939. La Jolla: University of California, San Diego.
• Merrill, Tim L., ed. Nicaragua : a country study. Washington: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. 1994.
• Political handbook of the world 1944. New York, 1945.
• Rojas Bolaños, Manuel. “La política.” Historia general de Centroamérica. 1994. San José: FLACSO. Volume five, 1994.
• Smith, Hazel. Nicaragua: self-determination and survival. London : Pluto Press. 1993.
• Walter, Knut. The regime of Anastasio Somoza, 1936-1956. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina. 1993.