1979 Soviet Union legislative election

Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Soviet Union on 4 March 1979.[1]

1979 Soviet Union legislative election

4 March 1979
All 1500 seats to the Soviet Supreme Soviet
Leader Leonid Brezhnev Party CPSU Independent Leader since 14 October 1964 Seats won 1075 425 Percentage 71.6% 28.4%
Chairman of the Council of Ministers before election Alexei Kosygin CPSU Elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers Alexei Kosygin 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

Party	Soviet of the Union			Soviet of Nationalities
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
Communist Party of the Soviet Union	174,734,459	99.9	549	174,770,398	99.9	526
Independents			201			224
Against	185,730	0.1	–	149,783	0.1	–
Invalid/blank votes	32	–	–	40	–	–
Total	174,920,221	100	750	174,920,221	100	750
Registered voters/turnout	174,944,173	100	–	174,944,173	100	–
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