1920 Lithuanian parliamentary election

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.

1920 Lithuanian parliamentary election
Lithuania
14–16 April 1920 1922 →

All 112 seats in the Constituent Assembly
56 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats
LKDP Mykolas Krupavičius 35.16 46
Peasant Union 17.05 20
LSDP 12.76 13
Labour Federation Antanas Matulaitis 10.25 10
ŽDS 6.55 6
LSLDP 5.75 9
LCRK 4.27 3
Farmers' Association Aleksandras Stulginskis 1.10 3
Socialist Company 1.10 1
German Committee 1.05 1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by constituency

Electoral system

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The 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

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13
1
9
20
3
6
1
10
3
46
PartyVotes%Seats
Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party239,90035.1646
Peasant Union116,29817.0520
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania87,05112.7613
Labour Federation69,90710.2510
Democratic Jewish Union44,7096.556
Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party39,2645.759
Central Polish Electoral Committee29,1564.273
Economic and Political Union of Lithuanian Farmers7,6511.120
Farmers' Association7,5351.103
Socialist Company of Workers and Farmers7,4981.101
Lithuanian German Committee7,1941.051
Party of National Progress4,2880.630
Polish List3,6650.540
Workers, Public Servants and the Landless3,5130.510
Group of the Landless and Small Landowners of Panevėžys3,1340.460
Santara2,5910.380
Union of Working People2,5350.370
Group of Landless in Biržai8170.120
Kybartai German Group410.010
Independents5,5440.810
Total682,291100.00112
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Lietuvos statistikos metraštis,[3] Lietuva[4]

Seats by electoral district

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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

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References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1201 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ Lietuvos statistikos metraštis 1924–1926 m. (in Lithuanian). Vol. I. Kaunas: Valstybės spaustuvė. 1927. pp. 72–73.
  4. ^ a b "Į Steigiamąjį Seimą: Galutiniai vaisiai rinkimų į St. Seimą". Lietuva (in Lithuanian). Vol. 97, no. 379. 4 May 1920. p. 1.