1938 Bulgarian parliamentary election

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Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria to elect members of the XXIV Ordinary National Assembly between 6 and 27 March 1938, the first after the 1934 coup.[1] The elections were held on a non-partisan basis, with all parties banned.[2] Pro-government candidates won a majority of seats.[3] Voter turnout was 70%.[4] Women were allowed to vote – for the first time – if they were married, divorced or widowed.[5]

Quick facts Turnout, Party ...
1938 Bulgarian parliamentary election
← 1931
6–27 March 1938
1939 â†’
All 160 seats in the National Assembly
81 seats needed for a majority
Turnout69.53%
Party Leader Seats
Government Boris III 97
Democratic Unification Angel Stankov[a] 56
National Social Movement–Tsankov Aleksandar Tsankov 3
Independent Agrarians – 2
National Liberal Party (G. Petrov) Georgi Petrov [bg] 1
People's Party Atanas Burov 1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Georgi Kyoseivanov
Kyoseivanov II (Ind.)[b]		 Georgi Kyoseivanov
Kyoseivanov II (Ind.)[b]
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Despite gerrymandering and manipulation, the opposition performed unexpectedly well.[6] Following the election, three meetings were held in April 1938, one with 17 MPs from the regions of Burgas and Stara Zagora, one with 42 from Vratsa, Pleven and Shumen and one with 32 from Plovdiv and Sofia, with all of them expressing support for the government and a further six expressed support without being present, for a total of 97 pro-government MPs. Despite the non-partisan nature of the election, only ten elected MPs had never previously been members of any defunct parties.[7]

Electoral system

For the first time since the 1911 election MPs were elected under first-past-the-post, with 160 separate constituencies, some of them gerrymandered.

Conduct

The elections were held on different dates in different regions to facilitate the presence of the armed forces for voter dispersion during the electoral campaign and exert pressure, make arrest and hinder the distribution of opposition ballots on election day.

Results

More information Party or alliance, Votes ...
Party or allianceVotes%Seats
GovernmentDemocratic Alliance–Moshanov31
Right-wing BZNS factions[c]30
NSD–Kalfov18
Others8
Independents10
Total97
Democratic UnificationPetorka [bg][d]41
Bulgarian Communist Party5
BZNS–Midday9
Democratic Party1
Total56
National Social Movement–Tsankov3
Independent Agrarians2
National Liberal Party (G. Petrov)1
People's Party[e]1
Total160
Total votes2,261,862–
Registered voters/turnout3,252,88369.53
Source: Nohlen & Stöver (votes), Georgiev (seats)[7]
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Aftermath

The government achieved a closer majority than expected, and after the election successfully pressured a number of opposition MPs to change sides.[6] Prime Minister Georgi Kyoseivanov continued his term. In July he signed the Salonika Agreement with the Balkan Pact, which removed the arms restrictions placed on Bulgaria. After the outbreak of World War II, Tsar Boris III dissolved the Assembly and scheduled elections for 1939.[9]

Notes

  1. [a]
    Leader of the parliamentary group
  2. [b]
    Includes non-partisan members of the NSD.
  3. [c]
    BZNS–Ploughman and BZNS–Peasant Voice[8]
  4. [d]
    BZNS–Vrabcha 1 [bg] 27 seats, Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Broad Socialists) 8, Radical Democratic Party 2, Democratic Alliance–Vasilev 2, National Liberal Party (Smilov) 2
  5. [e]
    The People's party was restored from the Burov faction of the Democratic Alliance, made up of formerly ONPP members

References

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