Parliamentary elections were held in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

on 11 November 1945."Yugoslavia At The Polls", ''The Times'', 12 November 1945 Due to an opposition boycott, the governing People's Front, dominated by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the only organisation to participate in the elections. The Front officially claimed 90.48% of the vote, with turnout at 88.57%.

Electoral system

He who votes black is an enemy of our people

The elections were held under a system approved by the Yugoslav Provisional Parliament."Marshal Tito On The Election", ''The Times'', 13 September 1945 Josip Broz Tito claimed it was to be the "most democratic lectionYugoslavia has ever had" and promised that the opposition would be allowed to participate in the elections. All men and women over 18 were granted the right to vote, although "traitors" were denied the right to vote. The government claimed this covered around 3% of voters, although the opposition put the figure much higher. Over seven million people were ultimately registered. The electoral law provided for a bicameral

Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

with a 354-seat National Assembly and a 175-seat Assembly of Nations. The National Assembly had one seat for every 40,000 voters. Voting was conducted using rubber balls, which voters deposited in a ballot box marked with the label of the party they intended to vote for. Voters had to place their hands in both ballot boxes to maintain the secrecy of which party they had voted for. Despite the opposition boycott, ballot boxes for the opposition were placed in polling stations alongside those for the People's Front following an amendment to the electoral law.

Campaign

The People's Front consisted of the major pre-war parties in the country, and ran under the slogan "Confirm our victory!" ( sh, Potvrdite našu pobjedu!)."Elections In Yugoslavia", ''The Times'', 9 November 1945 Despite claiming significant support in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, the pro-monarchy opposition refused to contest the elections, claiming to have faced intimidation. An opposition newspaper, ''Demokratija'', was closed down a week before the elections, with the government claiming it was attempting to damage

Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

morale and encourage foreign intervention."Yugoslavia In Transition", ''The Times'', 22 November 1945

Results

National Assembly

Aftermath

Eighteen days after the elections, the newly elected legislature formally abolished the monarchy and declared the

Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. This marked the onset of undisguised Communist rule in the country. For the next four decades, voters could only choose from candidates put forward by the People's Front (later renamed the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia).

References

{{Yugoslavian elections