1937 Romanian general election

Electoral system

The members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected from multi-member constituencies with between two and twenty seats. Seats were allocated on a proportional basis, unless a party received over 40% of the vote nationally. If this happened, the party in question was awarded half of the seats in each constituency, with the other half divided proportionally amongst the all parties (including the victorious one), with an electoral threshold of 2%.

The Senate was elected on a plurality basis. Voters had to be at least 21 to vote in the Chamber elections and 25 to vote in Senate elections. Candidates for both bodies had to be at least 40 years old.

Campaign

The campaign was marred by violent clashes between the two fascist groups, the National Christian Party's Lăncieri and the Iron Guard. During the first round, clashes occurred at Orhei and Târgu Mureş, when four were killed and which led to 300 arrests.

After the vote, the Electoral Commission surprised observers by deciding, in its allocation of seats by proportional representation, to count the entire country as one district, rather than use smaller districts, as had been the norm.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Senate

Aftermath

The elections were the last elections held under the nominally democratic 1923 constitution. On 18 January 1938, less than a month after the elections, Goga asked Carol to dissolve Parliament. Carol granted the request, with a view toward holding fresh elections that winter. However, Carol became alarmed with overtures being made by the National Christian Party towards the Iron Guard, and on 10 February 1938 he sacked Goga after only 45 days in office, suspended the constitution, cancelled the elections, and seized emergency powers. Later that year Carol pushed through a new constitution that concentrated all power in his hands, effectively codifying his emergency powers and turning his government into a royal dictatorship.

As a result, the elections were the last free multi-party elections until 1990. Elections held in 1939 featured a single list from Carol's National Renaissance Front. By the time of the first elections after World War II in 1946, the country had passed through two more dictatorships and a fourth, Communist one was rapidly consolidating.

References

• Kurt W. Treptow (1996) "Alegerile din decembrie 1937 şi instaurarea dictaturii regale" in Romania and World War II, Centrul de Studii Româneşti, Iaşi
• "4 Die as Rumania Votes", The New York Times, 21 December 1937, p18
• "Cabinet Aims to Rule Rumania", The New York Times, 24 December 1937, p4

References

1. [[Dieter Nohlen]] & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1591 {{ISBN. 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Voting was by universal male suffrage,Nohlen & Stöver, p1610-1611
3. Brustein, William. (2010). "Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust". Cambridge University Press.
4. Nohlen & Stöver, p1582
5. ''Background and Precursors to the Holocaust'', p. 26
6. [[Dolf Sternberger]], [[Bernhard Vogel (politician). Bernhard Vogel]], [[Dieter Nohlen]] & Klaus Landfried (1978) ''Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa'', Zweiter Halbband, pp1062–1064
7. Michael Mann, ''Fascists'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 288-289
8. Reaves, Joseph A. [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/03/30/romanians-hope-free-elections-mark-revolutions-next-stage/ Romanians Hope Free Elections Mark Revolution's Next Stage]. [[Chicago Tribune]], 1990-03-30.