Czechoslovak parliamentary election, 1920

Parliamentary elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 18 and 25 April 1920.^[1] Voting for the Chamber of Deputies occurred on April 18, 1920, and the voting for the Senate was held a week later on April 25, 1920.^[2] The election had initially been planned for mid- or late 1919, but had been postponed.^[3]

Out of the 300 Chamber of Deputies seats 281 were filled, as no elections were held in Hlučín Region (part of the Moravská Ostrava electoral district, resulting in 1 less deputy elected from that district), the Těšín electoral district (9 deputies) and the Užhorod electoral district (9 deputies).^[4][5][6][7] 16 parties won parliamentary representation.^[8] Voter turnout was 89.6% for the Chamber election and 75.6% for the Senate.^[9]

The Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party (ČSDSD) emerged as the largest party in the 1920 election, with 25.7% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies, 74 deputies elected, 28.1% of the vote for the Senate and 41 senators elected.^[2] Amongst the Czech voters, the 1920 election outcome was marked by remarkable stability compared to the 1911 election.^[10] The gap between Czech socialist and bourgeouis parties had only moved by 0.4% compared to the 1911 result.^[10]

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Party		Nationality	Votes	%	Seats
	Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party	Czechoslovak	1,590,520	25.65	74
	Czechoslovak People's Party	Czechoslovak	699,728	11.29	33
	German Social Democratic Workers Party	German	689,589	11.12	31
	Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People	Czechoslovak	603,618	9.74	28
	Czechoslovak Socialist Party	Czechoslovak	500,821	8.08	24
	Czechoslovak National Democracy	Czechoslovak	387,552	6.25	19
	German National Socialist Workers' Party	German	328,735	5.30	15
	Slovak National and Peasant Party	Slovak	242,045	3.91	12
	Farmers' League	German	241,747	3.90	11
	German Christian Social People's Party	German	212,913	3.43	10
	Provincial Christian-Socialist Party	Hungarian	139,355	2.25	5
	Czechoslovak Traders' Party	Czechoslovak	122,813	1.98	6
	Hungarian-German Social Democratic Party	Hungarian	108,546	1.75	4
	German Liberal Party	German	105,449	1.70	5
	United Jewish Parties	Jewish	79,714	1.29	0
	Socialist Party of the Czechoslovak Working People	Czechoslovak	58,580	0.94	3
	Party of Smallholders, Cottiers and Entrepreneurs of Czechoslovakia	Czechoslovak	42,670	0.69	0
	Hungarian Provincial Party of Smallholders and Agrarians	Hungarian	26,520	0.43	1
	German Free Social Party	German	7,630	0.12	0
	Independent Party of Small People	Czechoslovak	5,252	0.08	0
	Hungarian National Party	Hungarian	4,214	0.07	0
	Slavic Socialist Party	Czechoslovak	2,024	0.03	0
Total			6,200,035	100	281

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party	1,466,958	28.07	41
Czechoslovak People's Party	622,406	11.91	18
German Social Democratic Workers Party	539,344	11.35	16
Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People	530,388	10.15	14
Czechoslovak Socialist Party	395,844	7.57	10
Czechoslovak National Democracy	354,561	6.78	10
German National Socialist Workers' Party	300,333	5.7	8
Farmers' League	210,724	4.0	6
Slovak National and Farmers' Party	181,289	3.47	6
German Christian Social People's Party	141,495	2.7	4
Czechoslovak Traders' Party	107,674	2.06	3
Provincial Christian-Socialist Party	100,371	1.92	2
Other parties	275,424	5.30	4
Total	5,226,811	100	142
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p471 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Richard Crampton; Benjamin Crampton (11 June 2016). Atlas of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. pp. 58–60. ISBN 978-1-317-79952-8.
3. Duin, P.C. van. Central European Cross-roads: Social Democracy and National Revolution in Bratislava (Pressburg), 1867-1921
4. Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart. 17-18. J. C. B. Mohr (P. Siebeck). 1929. p. 241.
5. Otto Bauer (1926). Der Kampf: sozialdemokratische Monatsschrift 19. Verlag Volksbuchhandlung. p. 12.
6. "Volkswohl"; wissenschaftliche Monatsschrift. 11-12. 1920. p. 205.
7. Mads Ole Balling (1991). Von Reval bis Bukarest: Einleitung, Systematik, Quellen und Methoden, Estland, Lettland, Litauen, Polen, Tschechoslowakei. Dokumentation Verlag. p. 417. ISBN 978-87-983829-3-5.
8. Joseph Lee (1989). Ireland, 1912-1985: Politics and Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-521-37741-6.
9. Nohlen & Stöver, p472
10. Carol Skalnik Leff (14 July 2014). National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987. Princeton University Press. pp. 48–49, 67. ISBN 978-1-4008-5921-4.