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National Assembly elections were held in areas controlled by
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
on 6 January 1946. The only elections held under the 1946 constitution, they resulted in a victory for the communist
Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...
, which won 182 of the 302 seats, although the distribution of seats between parties had been decided before the elections. The ballot was not secret and ballot papers were filled out in the presence of aides who were "to help comrades who had difficulty in making out their ballots."


Background

On 8 September 1945, six days after the proclamation of independence,
Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...
signed decree 14 on the National Assembly elections. On 17 October he signed decree 15 detailing the regulations for the elections; turnout was required to be at least 25% to validate the results,Cuộc tổng tuyển cử đầu tiên năm 1946 - Một mốc son lịch sử của thể chế
HoChiMinh City University
all citizens over the age of 18 had the right to vote, and those over 21 could stand as candidates. On 11 November, as an effort to alleviate the fears of a Communist takeover, the Indochinese Communist Party announced its dissolution. However, it remained ''de facto'' in existence and in control of the Viet Minh.


Conduct

The elections were opposed by the French colonial authorities and their supporters, and were marked by bombings and "misinformation". Communists accused
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
of intimidating them into sharing power with the nationalist parties, and claimed that Việt Quốc soldiers had tried to attack polling stations. According to non-communist nationalists, the elections were fraudulent. The ballot was not secret and ballot papers were filled out in the presence of aides who were "to help comrades who had difficulty in making out their ballots." The elections did not allow voters to express a preference between former emperor Bao Dai and Ho Chi Minh. Voting was held publicly in northern and central Vietnam, but secretly in
Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...
, the southern third of Vietnam. There was minimal campaigning and most voters had no idea who the candidates were. In many districts, a single candidate ran unopposed. Former Prime Minister
Trần Trọng Kim Trần Trọng Kim (; chữ Hán: 陳仲金, Kanji pronunciation: ''Chin Jūkin''; ; 1883 – December 2, 1953; courtesy name Lệ Thần (, chữ Hán: 隸臣) was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the sho ...
claimed there were places where people were forced to vote for the Viet Minh.Sexton, Michael "War for the Asking" 1981


Results

According to Ho Chi Minh,
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
was approximately 82%.Những cuộc trả lời phỏng vấn báo chí của Bác Hồ (Phần 2)
/ref> Other sources put turnout at 89%.


Aftermath

The first session of the National Assembly took place on 2 March 1946. Later in the year the National Assembly ratified the first democratic constitution for the country. Under this constitution, legislative authority was vested in the National Assembly, which was the highest institution in the country. The President of the Republic was in charge of leading the government and was to be elected by the National Assembly for five year terms. The Prime Minister was chosen by the President from among the members of the National Assembly. At the sub-national level, regional assemblies were established with the power to elect regional executive committees. However, there was no
separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...
and the document did not stipulate the existence of a
constitutional court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
which could ensure it was actually adhered to in practice. The document remained in place in
Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...
-controlled areas and in
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
throughout the
First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...
following partition in 1954, until it was replaced with a new constitution in 1959.


References


External links

*Howard R. Penniman (1972
Election in North Vietnam
''World Affairs'' {{Vietnamese elections
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
Parliamentary election Elections in North Vietnam Election and referendum articles with incomplete results