Soviet Union legislative election, 1984

Soviet Union legislative election, 1984

4 March 1984
All seats to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
First party   Leader Konstantin Chernenko Party CPSU Leader since 13 February 1984 Seats won 549 (Soviet of the Union) 526 (Soviet of Nationalities)
Elected General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko CPSU

Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Soviet Union on 4 March 1984. 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

Electoral system

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

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

Candidates

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

Results

Party	Soviet of the Union			Soviet of Nationalities
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
Communist Party of the Soviet Union	183,897,278	99.9	551	183,592,183	99.8	521
Independents			199			199
Against	109,078	0.1	–	414,172	0.2	–
Invalid/blank votes	17	–	–	18	–	–
Total	184,006,373	100	767	184,006,373	100	750
Registered voters/turnout	184,029,412	100	–	184,029,412	100	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver