No choice

Non-alternative elections are often the main type of elections in countries with an authoritarian or totalitarian regime, but they are also found in democratic countries..

USSR

This type of election was practiced, in particular, in the Soviet Union from the mid -1920s to 1989 ^[1] . Nevertheless, the possibility of voting against the candidate remained; after the 1950s, at the level of elections to rural and settlement (occasionally, district councils in the city and city councils) there were cases of victory of the candidate “against all”, most often this happened in the RSFSR , Estonian SSR , Latvian SSR and Kazakh SSR . In general, each time, at elections of all levels across the Soviet Union, about 2 million votes were cast “against” (population about 300 million people). It should be noted that voting “against”, unlike voting “for”, required the use of an electoral booth to cross out the candidate's name, therefore, attracted the attention of others ^[2] . However, even under these conditions, according to Sergei Maksudov , official Soviet statistics did not differ likelihood: if in 1927, according to official data, 50% of voters went to the council elections, and in 1934, 70% of the votes “Then since 1937, both turnout and support figures have been over 96%, eventually reaching an absurd figure of 99.99% ^[3] .

In 1990, at the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, there President of the USSR , which Mikhail Gorbachev won.

Russia

In modern Russia, this type of election is rare, but nonetheless takes place. In 1991, Tatarstan’s President Mintimer Shaimiev was elected on a non-alternative basis , and in 1996 he was also without any alternative re-elected for a second term . In 2018, in Khakassia, there was an uncontested second round of elections of the head of the republic , in which Valentin Konovalov won; Previously it was planned that this vote would be an alternative, but all the candidates, except V. Konovalov, withdrew their candidatures. At the local level, in particular during the elections of local councils of deputies, there are also non-alternative elections.

Hungary

The National Assembly of Hungary was elected, in whole or in part, on a non-alternative basis. In 1949-1967, elections were held according to a proportional system with a single list approved by the authorities. In the a majoritarian system was introduced, alternative candidates appeared in a number of districts, their number gradually increased in the next elections. Finally, in 1985 a mixed system was introduced, and all National Assembly deputies from single-member districts were elected alternatively (the rest were elected according to the All-Hungarian list approved by the government).

Vietnam

The National Assembly of Vietnam was elected without alternative until the , in which independent candidates from the Communist Party of Vietnam participated for the first time.

Other socialist countries

Non-alternative elections were widespread in other socialist countries. In particular, non-alternative elections were held (conducted) in:

• The people's assembly of Albania under the communist regime in 1946-1991 (the majority system in single-member constituencies is one candidate in each constituency). In 1991, alternative were held;
• The People's Chamber of the GDR in 1949–1989 (the proportional (1963–1989 majority) system in open-ended multi-member districts is the only list in each district that included a greater number of candidates than must be elected ^[4] ). In 1990, the first and only alternative elections to the People’s Chamber were held .
• Supreme National Assembly of the DPRK since 1949 (the majority system in single-member constituencies is one candidate in each constituency);
• Cuba ’s National Assembly of People’s Power since 1976 (majority system, multi-stage elections - one candidate in each district);
• The Sejm of the Polish People’s Republic in 1947–1989 (the majority system is one candidate in each district; however, representatives of the legal opposition were also elected, see Znak (association) );
• The Grand National Assembly of Romania in 1947–1989 (the majority system in single-member constituencies is one candidate in each constituency).

Italy

The elections to the Chamber of Deputies of Italy of 1929 and 1934 were uncontested . On them, citizens voted for or against a single list set up by the National Fascist Party . In 1939, the Chamber of Deputies was transformed into the Chamber of fasciations and corporations , whose members were no longer elected, but appointed.

Canada

Occasionally, elections of deputies to the House of Commons of Canada are rare (in Canada such elections are known as “ acclamation ” - English acclamation ; see the article in en-wiki ). Until the middle of the 20th century, the number of non-alternative candidates was quite large: for example, in the 33 out of 235 deputies were elected without any alternative. After 1957, this practice has ceased to be applied at the federal level. The last candidate elected by acclamation in the general election was , and the last candidate elected in the by-election was . At the provincial and territorial level, acclamation is rarely used today: for example, in 2003 and 2007, , the future prime minister of the Northwest Territories , was elected to the territorial without choice.

United States

The first president of the United States, George Washington, became the only head of the American state elected without alternative. He was elected in the absence of other candidates in 1789 and 1792 . Simultaneously with the president, the vice-president was elected : under the then constitutional constitution he was elected separately from the president, and several candidates applied for this post in both elections.

Turkmenistan

The elections of the president of Turkmenistan in 1990 and 1992 were uncontested - the only candidate, Saparmurat Niyazov, participated in them. In 1994, he extended his powers in a referendum until 2000 , and in 1999 he was proclaimed president for life. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov ’s successor, Niyazov, was elected several times in alternative elections, but with the participation of fake candidates who were completely loyal to him.

CAR

The President of the Central African Republic, David Daco , who has been in office since 1960, was re-elected in 1964 for a .

• One party system
• candidate - spoiler
• en: Category: Single-candidate elections
• en: Category: One-party elections