Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 14–15 July 1940 to the so-called

People's Seimas The People's Seimas ( lt, Liaudies Seimas) was a puppet legislature organized in order to give legal sanction the occupation and annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. After the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940, a new pro-Soviet government wa ...

. They followed an ultimatum from the Soviet Union to allow Soviet troops to enter the country and operate freely. The elections were rigged and only communist candidates were allowed to run.Ineta Ziemele (2002
''Baltic yearbook of international law: 2001''
p4

Background

President

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the ...

left Lithuania on 15 June as the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

occupied the country and took control of the government. On 1 July the puppet People's Government led by

Justas Paleckis Justas Paleckis ( – 26 January 1980) was a Lithuanian author, journalist and politician. He was nominal acting president of Lithuania after the Soviet invasion while Lithuania was still ostensibly independent, in office from 17 June to 3 Au ...

announced elections to a new parliament, the

, to be held on 14 July. The

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...

emerged from underground with 1,500 members. Soon afterwards, the government announced the formation of the Union of the Working People of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos liaudies darbo sąjunga), ostensibly a popular front. Voters were presented with a single list of candidates, including some non-communists. Just one candidate was presented for every seat in the new parliament and no other organizations were allowed to participate. On 11 and 12 July, the Soviet authorities stifled the opposition by arresting leading figures of the previous government and deporting some of them to the interior of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

– even though Lithuania was still formally an independent state. The elections were later extended into 15 July. Each voter had his or her passport stamped after voting. According to the official results, voter turnout reached 95% and the Union list received over 99% of the votes. Most of the original election records were destroyed. The remaining data shows that turnout was indeed high, but that many ballots were invalid (missing, destroyed, left blank, or marked with anti-Soviet slogans). The results were announced even before the polls closed. The new parliament was convened on 21 July and voted unanimously to established the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

and request to join the Soviet Union. The country became the Soviet Union's fourteenth member on 3 August.

References

Lithuania Single-candidate elections 1940 in Lithuania July 1940 events Parliamentary elections in Lithuania {{Lithuania-election-stub

Background

See also

References