Elections in the First Czechoslovak Republic

The electoral system of the First Republic was based on the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920. Parliamentary elections were regulated by Acts 123 and 208 of 1920.{{cite book|author=John Francis Nejez Bradley|title=Politics in Czechoslovakia, 1945–1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2tZnAAAAMAAJ|year=1991|publisher=East European Monographs|isbn=978-0-88033-212-5|page=79}}

The Czechoslovak parliament at the time consisted of a Chamber of Deputies (300 members) and a Senate (150 members). Parliamentarians were elected under a proportional representation system using multi-member electoral districts. The Hare quota was used in the first count, and the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota in the second count.Sovinsky, J. [http://www.juridicas.unam.mx/wccl/ponencias/1/36.pdf The reforms of the electoral system in the mirror of constitutional principles (considerations in the Czech Republic)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325054139/http://www.juridicas.unam.mx/wccl/ponencias/1/36.pdf |date=2016-03-25 }} The President of the Republic was elected by both houses of parliament.

Suffrage was universal, secret and compulsory for all citizens aged 21 years and above for elections to the Chamber of Deputies and aged 26 years and above for the Senate.{{cite book|author1=Richard Crampton|author2=Benjamin Crampton|title=Atlas of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmVuBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|date=11 June 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-79952-8|pages=58–60}} Voters were required to have lived in their respective constituency for three months to be entitled to vote there. Bankrupt citizens and citizens convicted of crimes could lose their right to vote.

Candidates to the Chamber of Deputies had to be 30 years of age and Czechoslovak citizens for at least three years. Candidates to the Senate had to be 45 years of age and Czechoslovak citizens for at least ten years.

The Ministry of the Interior was charged with organizing the elections.

Initially, the republic had 23 electoral districts for elections to the Chamber of Deputies and 13 electoral districts for the Senate. Below is a table where the Chamber of Deputies electoral districts are organized by Senate electoral district, with 1921 and 1930 census data for reference. Constituency and seat numbers in parentheses refer to the situation before the 1925 re-districting.

Sources:{{cite book|title=Národní shromáždění Republiky Ceskoslovenské: Poslanecká sněmovna, Senát, Národní výbor, Revoluční národní shromáždění. Zivotopisná a statistická příruča ... s výňatkem nejdůležitějších ustanovení a dat, která se týkají Národního shromáždění|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDw-AAAAIAAJ|year=1924|publisher=Nákladem a tiskem firmy Šmejc a spol.|pages=24–25}}{{cite book|author=Czechoslovakia. Státní úřad statistický|title=La statistique tchécoslovaque: Agriculture. XIIe série|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nkctAQAAMAAJ|volume=1–5|year=1922|page=16}}{{cite book|title=Zborník Ústavu marxizmu-leninizmu a Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Komenského: Historica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uecPAQAAMAAJ|volume=32–33|year=1981|publisher=Slovenské pedagogické nakladatels̕tvo|page=113}}{{cite book|author=Mads Ole Balling|title=Von Reval bis Bukarest: Einleitung, Systematik, Quellen und Methoden, Estland, Lettland, Litauen, Polen, Tschechoslowakei|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r9uzAAAAIAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Dokumentation Verlag|isbn=978-87-983829-3-5|page=247}}

Only accredited parties could present candidates for election. With the proportional representation list vote system and ethno-linguistic pluralism, many different political parties flourished.{{cite book|author1=Richard Rose|author2=Neil Munro|title=Parties and Elections in New European Democracies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfxMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|date=1 April 2009|publisher=ECPR Press|isbn=978-0-9558203-2-8|page=84}} Parties were divided along class, ethnic, religious and regional lines. After the formation of Czechoslovakia, new parties had begun to be formed in Slovakia whilst established Czech parties immediately expanded their activities to Slovak areas.{{cite book|author=Free Europe Committee. Mid-European Studies Center|title=Czechoslovakia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vq0xAQAAIAAJ|year=1957|publisher=Mid-European Studies Center of the Free Europe Committee|page=63}}

The greatest vote-share any single party ever managed in a national election was 25.7%, earned by the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party (ČSDSD) in the 1920 election, and no other party received as much as 16% in any elections of the First Republic. Thus coalition governments with the support of several parties became a necessity.

File:Němec Antonín.png

Voting for the Chamber of Deputies occurred on April 18, 1920, and voting for the Senate was held a week later on April 25, 1920. 281 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected, as no elections were held in the Hlučín Region (part of the Moravská Ostrava electoral district, resulting in 1 fewer deputy elected from that district), the Těšín electoral district (9 deputies) and the Užhorod electoral district (9 deputies).{{cite book|title=Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mc_NAAAAMAAJ|volume=17–18|year=1929|publisher=J. C. B. Mohr (P. Siebeck)|page=241}}{{cite book|author=Otto Bauer|title=Der Kampf: sozialdemokratische Monatsschrift|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CosZAAAAMAAJ|volume=19|year=1926|publisher=Verlag Volksbuchhandlung|page=12}}{{cite book|title="Volkswohl"; wissenschaftliche Monatsschrift|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0CkeAQAAIAAJ|volume=11–12|year=1920|page=205}}{{cite book|author=Mads Ole Balling|title=Von Reval bis Bukarest: Einleitung, Systematik, Quellen und Methoden, Estland, Lettland, Litauen, Polen, Tschechoslowakei|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r9uzAAAAIAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Dokumentation Verlag|isbn=978-87-983829-3-5|page=417}} 23 parties contested the election; 16 won parliamentary representation.{{cite book|author=Joseph Lee|title=Ireland, 1912–1985: Politics and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KiIZ_x8IWQUC&pg=PA80|year=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-37741-6|page=80}} The ČSDSD emerged as the largest party in the 1920 election, with 25.7% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies, 74 deputies elected, 28.1% of the vote for the Senate and 41 senators elected. There was also the German Social Democratic Workers Party in the Czechoslovak Republic (DSAP) with 11.1% of the Chamber of Deputies vote, 31 deputies and 16 senators, as well as the Hungarian-German Social Democratic Party with 1.8% of the Chamber of Deputies vote and 4 deputies. The Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL) became the second largest party in the parliament with 11.3% of the Chamber of Deputies vote, 33 deputies, 11.9% of the Senate vote and 18 senators.

Among Czech voters, the 1920 election outcome was marked by remarkable stability compared to the 1911 election. The gap between Czech socialist and bourgeois parties had only moved by 0.4% compared to the 1911 result.{{cite book|author=Carol Skalnik Leff|title=National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918–1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JAAABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA67|date=14 July 2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-5921-4|pages=48–49, 67}}

Elections for representatives to the Czechoslovak parliament from Subcarpathian Rus' did not take place in 1920, as the area remained under a joint military-civilian administration.{{cite book|author=Martin Wein|title=A History of Czechs and Jews: A Slavic Jerusalem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cM-hBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT136|date=11 February 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-60820-2|page=136}}{{cite book|title=Prague Economic Papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RG62AAAAIAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Institute of Economics, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences|page=371}} A by-election for deputies to the Czechoslovak parliament from the Užhorod electoral district (i.e. Subcarpathian Rus') was held on March 16, 1924.{{cite book|author=Czechoslovakia|title=Prager Archiv für Gesetzgebung und Rechtsprechung|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TngzAQAAMAAJ|volume=2|year=1920|publisher=H. Mercy Sohn|page=365}}{{cite book|author1=Collegium Carolinum (Munich, Germany)|author2=Karl Bosl|title=Die erste Tschechoslowakische Republik als multinationaler Parteienstaat: Vorträge d. Tagungen d. Collegium Carolinum in Bad Wiessee vom 24.-27. November 1977 u. vom 20.-23. April 1978|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OOgJAQAAIAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Oldenbourg|isbn=978-3-486-49181-4|page=231}}{{cite book|author=Czechoslovakia. Státní úřad statistický|title=Volby do Poslaneck ̌sn¿movny v listopadu 1925|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ig0IAQAAMAAJ|year=1926|publisher=Stt̀n ̕͠¿ad statistický}}{{cite book|author=Yeshayahu A. Jelinek|title=The Carpathian Diaspora: The Jews of Subcarpathian Rus' and Mukachevo, 1848–1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8H4UAQAAIAAJ|year=2007|publisher=East European Monographs|isbn=978-0-88033-619-2|page=156}} The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) emerged as the winner of the election.{{cite book|author1=Collegium Carolinum (Munich, Germany)|author2=Karl Bosl|title=Die erste Tschechoslowakische Republik als multinationaler Parteienstaat: Vorträge d. Tagungen d. Collegium Carolinum in Bad Wiessee vom 24.-27. November 1977 u. vom 20.-23. April 1978|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OOgJAQAAIAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Oldenbourg|isbn=978-3-486-49181-4|page=238}}{{cite book|title=Komunistická revue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HYXNAAAAMAAJ|volume=1|year=1924|publisher=Komunistická strana Československa|pages=153–154}}

File:Map showing difference in percentage in variation from the average number of inhabitants per seat to the Czechoslovak Chamber of Deputies, using the 1930 census data.png

Ahead of the 1925 parliamentary election, the 1920 electoral law was amended, resulting in the abolition of the Těšín electoral district (following the decision of the Conference of Ambassadors on the Polish-Czechoslovak border conflict).{{cite book|author1=Manfred Alexander|author2=Heidrun Dolezel|author3=Stephan Dolezel|title=Deutsche Gesandtschaftsberichte aus Prag: Innenpolitik und Minderheitenprobleme in der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pcdnAAAAMAAJ|year=1983|publisher=R. Oldenbourg|isbn=978-3-486-55922-4|page=422}} About half of the territory of the Těšín electoral district had been awarded to Poland by the decision of the Conference of Ambassadors July 28, 1920.{{cite book|author=Czechoslovakia|title=Prager Archiv für Gesetzgebung und Rechtsprechung|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aggcAQAAMAAJ|year=1925|publisher=H. Mercy|page=849}}{{cite book|author=Oskar Krejcí|title=Geopolitics of the Central European Region: The View from Prague and Bratislava|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38ciAe4J4VMC&pg=PA340|year=2005|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-80-224-0852-3|page=340}} The areas of the erstwhile Těšín district that remained in Czechoslovakia became part of the Moravská Ostrava electoral district.

The nine Chamber of Deputies seats that had been allocated to Těšín in 1920 were re-allocated to the Prague (3), Brno (1) and Moravská Ostrava (5) electoral districts.{{cite book|title=Europa Ethnica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AUXFAAAAMAAJ|volume=8|year=1934|publisher=W. Braumüller.|page=779}} One of the Těšín Senate seats was allocated to Prague, the remaining three went to Moravská Ostrava.

Moreover, the Prague electoral district was divided into two subdistricts, I A and I B, which each would elect 24 members of the Chamber of Deputies.{{cite book|title=Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mc_NAAAAMAAJ|year=1929|publisher=J. C. B. Mohr (P. Siebeck)|pages=254–255}}

No further changes in the distribution of seats of the Chamber of Deputies would take place ahead of the 1929 and 1935 elections.Český statistický úřad. [https://www.czso.cz/documents/10180/20536128/422008k03.pdf/8a05c66b-c633-4e2a-a9a4-622838993b2c?version=1.0 Výsledky voleb v Československu (mandáty ve společných zákonodárných sborech)]

The 1925 Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections were held on November 15, 1925. 39 parties presented candidates, and 16 parties won seats. The Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants (RSZML) was the party with the most votes, with 13.7% of the Chamber of Deputies vote, 45 deputies, 13.8% of the Senate vote and 23 senators. With the Social Democracy divided, the Communist Party became the second largest party in parliament, with 13.2% of the Chamber of Deputies vote, 41 deputies and 20 senators. Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSĽS) emerged as a major force in Slovakia. With 34.3% of the votes from Slovakia, 23 deputies and 12 senators, the party was by far the largest in Slovakia.{{cite book|author=Stanislav J. Kirschbaum|title=Historical Dictionary of Slovakia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzefAgAAQBAJ|date=14 November 2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8030-6|pages=xxxix, xl}}

Act 56 of 1927 disenfranchised members of the armed forces and the gendarmerie from voting in parliamentary elections.

The 1929 parliamentary election was held on October 27, 1929. The RSZML retained its position as the largest party, with 15% of the Chamber of Deputies vote, followed by the ČSDSD with 13%. In Slovakia, HSĽS suffered a setback. It had renounced its government participation earlier the same month. The party obtained 28.3% of the votes in Slovakia: 19 deputies and 9 senators.

File:SdP_election_poster_1935.jpg's men".]]File:Volební leták Národní obce fašistické.gif for the 1935 election]]The 1935 parliamentary election was held on May 19, 1935. The Sudeten German Party (SdP) became the largest party in parliament, with 15.2% of the Chamber of Deputies vote, 44 deputies and 23 senators.

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Category:Elections in Czechoslovakia