Upper Voltan parliamentary election, 1978

Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Upper Volta on 30 April 1978. They followed a constitutional referendum the previous year, which came about as a result of the military coup in 1974. Eight parties and 367 candidates contested the election.^[1]

The result was a victory for the Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Rally, which won 28 of the 57 seats in the National Assembly.^[2] Voter turnout was just 38.3%.^[3]

The new constitution also limited the number of political parties to three, meaning that only the three largest parties in the Assembly were allowed to continue existing, resulting in the African Regroupment Party, the country's oldest party, virtually disappearing.^[1]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Rally	455,329	42.5	28	–9
National Union for the Defence of Democracy	244,754	22.9	13	New
Voltaic Progressive Union	169,331	15.8	9	New
African Regroupment Party	102,335	9.6	6	–6
National Union of Independents	79,367	7.4	1	New
Movement of PRA Independents	18,361	1.7	0	New
Popular Action Grouping	827	0.1	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	51,495	–	–	–
Total	1,121,799	100	57	–18
Registered voters/turnout	2,927,416	38.3	–	–
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

1. Upper Volta Inter-Parliamentary Union
2. Elections in Burkina Faso African Elections Database
3. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p134 ISBN 0-19-829645-2