General elections were held in Romania between 1 and 3 March 1922. In the first stage between 1 and 3 March, seats in the Senate were elected. In the second stage between 5 and 7 March the Chamber of Deputies was elected, and in the third and final stage from 9 to 11 March, additional Senate seats were elected.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1591 The result was a victory for the governing
National Liberal Party, which won 222 of the 372 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 111 of the 148 seats in the Senate. Both houses were combined to form a Constitutional Assembly, which approved the
1923 constitution.
Campaign
In 34 of the 121 constituencies in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...
, candidates ran unopposed and were proclaimed elected without an actual poll,
mostly because the
National Liberal government refused to register opposition candidates. Overall, the campaign was dominated by the government through what some opposition representative deemed "terror". The National Liberals freely used the administration and the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
in order to promote its candidates and intimidate the opposition, rejected the registration of many opposition candidates while pressuring others into withdrawing, destroyed opposition publications, forbade or brutally dissolved opposition rallies, arrested candidates and worked to split the vote among the competing opposition parties.
Government pressure continued during election day. According to
Constantin Stere, army officers in
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of ...
campaigned for the government inside the polling stations and entered voting booths to ensure a vote for the government. According to
Nicolae Iorga, government agents beat up opposition supporters in
Fălticeni,
Dorohoi and
Odobești, prevented whole villages from voting in the
Putna County, while in
Argeș County
Argeș County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Pitești.
Demographics
On 20 October 2011, it had a population of 612,431 and the population density was 89/km2.
* Romanians – 97%
* Roma (Gypsie ...
the soldiers voted instead of the public. In several places across the country, opposition candidates were prevented from voting. Opposition leaders condemned the abuses of the government, with
Romanian National Party
The Romanian National Party ( ro, Partidul Național Român, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the ...
leader
Iuliu Maniu
Iuliu Maniu (; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was an Austro-Hungarian-born lawyer and Romanian politician. He was a leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, playing an important role in the U ...
declaring the elections "a European scandal" and initially refusing to take part in the works of the newly elected Parliament.
Results
Chamber of Deputies
Senate
References
{{Romanian elections
Parliamentary elections in Romania
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
1922 in Romania
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
Electoral fraud in Romania
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results
1922 elections in Romania