1970 Soviet Union legislative election

1970 Soviet Union legislative election

14 June 1970
All 1,517 seats in the Supreme Soviet
First party Second party   Leader Leonid Brezhnev Party CPSU Independent Leader since 14 October 1964 Seats before 1141 376 Seats won 1,096 421 Seat change 45 45 Percentage 72.2% 27.8%
Chairman of the Council of Ministers before election Alexei Kosygin CPSU Elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers Alexei Kosygin CPSU

Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Soviet Union on 14 June 1970.

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

Soviet of the Union

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	BKB		Communist Party of the Soviet Union	152,771,739	99.74	562	–11
			Independents			205	+11
Against				400,054	0.26	–	–
Total				153,171,793	100.00	767	0
Valid votes				153,171,793	100.00
Invalid/blank votes				420	0.00
Total votes				153,172,213	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				153,237,112	99.96
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

By republic

Soviet Republic	Votes					Seats
	For	%	Against	%	Invalid
Russian SFSR	84,511,249	99.62	318,725	0.38	222	423
Armenian SSR	1,251,812	99.91	1,140	0.09	0	7
Azerbaijan SSR	2,472,025	99.95	1,260	0.05	7	15
Byelorussian SSR	5,838,677	99.92	4,423	0.08	2	28
Estonian SSR	945,879	99.67	3,019	0.33	56	4
Georgian SSR	2,833,298	99.98	549	0.02	6	15
Kazakh SSR	7,038,724	99.72	19,755	0.28	1	39
Kirghiz SSR	1,475,729	99.77	3,364	0.23	0	9
Latvian SSR	1,701,358	99.92	1,354	0.08	10	7
Lithuanian SSR	2,055,767	99.96	873	0.04	2	10
Moldavian SSR	2,163,805	99.93	1,583	0.07	0	11
Tajik SSR	1,336,401	99.86	1,939	0.14	1	8
Turkmen SSR	1,033,718	99.80	2,081	0.20	0	6
Ukrainian SSR	32,496,538	99.92	27,431	0.08	0	150
Uzbek SSR	5,616,759	99.84	8,847	0.16	114	35
Soviet Union	152,771,739	99.74	396,343	0.24	420	767
Source: IPU

Soviet of Nationalities

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	BKB		Communist Party of the Soviet Union	152,843,228	99.79	534	–34
			Independents			216	+34
Against				328,544	0.21	–	–
Total				153,171,772	100.00	750	0
Valid votes				153,171,772	100.00
Invalid/blank votes				441	0.00
Total votes				153,172,213	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				153,237,112	99.96
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

By republic

	Votes					Seats
	For	%	Against	%	Invalid
Union Republics	152,843,228	99.79	320,633	0.21	441	480
Autonomous Republics	11,449,897	99.59	47,169	0.41	24	220
Autonomous Regions	1,115,099	99.64	3,978	0.36	1	40
National Areas	583,055	99.55	2,645	0.45	0	10
Source: IPU