Elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly ( uk, Вибори до Українських Установчих Зборів) were never finished as a result of events in the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

and the following.

Organization

There were 301 seats contested to the

Ukrainian Constituent Assembly The Ukrainian Constituent Assembly ( uk, Українські Установчі Збори) was a planned All-National Congress which was supposed to confirm the Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic and establish a new political syst ...

in 13 electoral districts starting on . The elections were proclaimed on November 20 by the Third Universal of the

Central Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...

of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

. The Universal proclaimed that the Constituent Assembly would convene on . The elections were conducted by the Electoral Bureau of the General Secretary of Internal Affairs directed by Mykhailo Kovenko. The Universal proclaimed that the Constituent Assembly's 301 deputies were to be elected by a direct universal, equal and secret vote on the basis of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

of 1 deputy per 100,000 constituents. Male and female citizens aged 20 and over who have attained the right to vote were allowed to participate in the elections.

Preparation

Right before elections the

Russian Social Democratic Labor Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...

tried to sabotage the elections through another coup-d'etat that was scheduled to take place on December 24 to establish the Soviet power in Ukraine. However, that attempt was effectively extinguished, all Bolshevik military formations were disarmed, and sent by train to the

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

including the 2nd Guard Corps led by

Yevgenia Bosch Yevgenia Bogdanovna; russian: Го́тлибовна) Bosch; russian: Евге́ния Богда́новна Бош; german: Jewgenija Bogdanowna Bosch (née Meisch ; – 5 January 1925) was a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary, politician, ...

that was stopped near

Zhmerynka Zhmerynka ( uk, Жмеринка ) is a city in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Zhmerynka Raion (district), the town itself is not a part of the district and is separately incorporated a ...

en route to

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

in support of the mutiny. On December 30 the government of Russia ( Sovnarkom) issued an ultimatum to reinstate legal rights of Bolshevik military formations in Ukraine, which was ignored.

Results

According to the election results, 171 of the 301 deputies were elected in regions where the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

were not in power. Over 70 percent of the total votes cast were for Ukrainian political parties while only 10 percent went to the Bolsheviks. Following political turmoil, the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly never convened and the Central Council took on its responsibilities. The elections were paused due to invasion of Russia and the chaos that was spread as the result of it. The

announced that it will act as the legislative body until the Assembly will be convened.

References

{{Ukrainian Bolshevik Revolution Ukraine in the Russian Civil War

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the even ...

Ukrainian People's Republic

January 1918 events election, 1918