Election Name: | 1958 Soviet Union legislative election |
Country: | Soviet Union |
Type: | parliamentary |
Ongoing: | no |
Previous Election: | 1954 Soviet Union legislative election |
Previous Year: | 1954 |
Next Election: | 1962 Soviet Union legislative election |
Next Year: | 1962 |
Seats For Election: | All 1,378 seats in the Supreme Soviet |
Election Date: | 16 March 1958 |
Leader1: | Nikita Khrushchev |
Party1: | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Leader Since1: | 13 March 1953 |
Seats1: | 1048 |
Seat Change1: | 2 |
Percentage1: | 76.1% |
Party2: | Independent politician |
Seats2: | 330 |
Percentage2: | 23.9% |
Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |
Before Election: | Nikolai Bulganin |
Before Party: | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
After Election: | Nikita Khrushchev |
After Party: | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Seat Change2: | 33 |
Last Election1: | 1050 |
Last Election2: | 297 |
Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Soviet Union on 16 March 1958.[1]
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]
CPSU candidates accounted for around three quarters of the nominees, whilst many of the others were members of Komsomol.[4]