Elections to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly were held on 25 November 1917 (although some districts had polling on alternate days), around 2 months after they were originally meant to occur, having been organized as a result of events in the Russian Revolution of 1917. They are generally recognised to be the first free elections in Russian history.
Various academic studies have given alternative results. However, all clearly indicate that the Bolsheviks were clear winners in the urban centres, and also took around two-thirds of the votes of soldiers on the Western Front. Nevertheless, the SRs topped the polls on the strength of support from the country's rural peasantry. However, the peasantry were for the most part one-issue voters, that issue being land reform.
The demand for a Constituent Assembly was a long-standing demand of the democratic and popular movements in Tsarist Russia. In the later phase of the February Revolution, Tsar Nicolas II abdicated on March 2, 1917. The Russian Provisional Government was formed and pledged to carry through with holding elections for a Constituent Assembly. Consensus emerged between all major political parties to go ahead with the election. Nevertheless, the various political parties were divided over many details on the organization of the impending election. The Bolsheviks demanded immediate elections, whilst the Socialist-Revolutionaries wanted to postpone the vote for several months for it not to collide with the harvest season. Right-wing forces also pushed for delay of the election.[1]
On March 19, 1917 a mass rally was held in Petrograd, demanding female suffrage. The march gathered some 40,000 participants. The protest was led by Vera Figner and Poliksena Shishkina-Iavein. It moved from the Petrograd City Duma to the Tauride Palace, and the demonstrators refused to vacate the palace grounds before the Provisional Government and the Soviet committed to female suffrage. On July 20, 1917, the Provisional Government issued a decree awarding voting rights for women aged 20 years and above.[2]
In May the political parties agreed on main principles of the election (proportional representation, universal suffrage and secret ballot). A special electoral commission was set up, composed of a multiple of lawyers and legal experts. The following month September 17, 1917 was set as the election date. The new Constituent Assembly was supposed to have its first meeting on September 30, 1917.[1]
In July the left-wing parties increased their pressure on the Provisional Government, reaching a nearly insurrectionist situation. In the end, the following month the left consented to a further postponement. On August 9, 1917 a new date for the election was by the Provisional Government: voting on November 12 and the first session of the Constituent Assembly would be held on November 28, 1917.[1][3]
Between the finalization of candidate lists and the election, the October Revolution broke out.[4] The October Revolution ended the reign of the Provisional Government. A new Soviet government took charge of the country, the Council of People's Commissars. Nevertheless, the new government pledged to go ahead with the election and that its rule remained provisional until its authority would be confirmed by the Constituent Assembly.[1]
81 electoral districts (okrugs) were formed by the Provisional Government.[5][6] Electoral districts were generally set up on (pre-revolutionary) governorate or ethnic oblast boundaries.[6][7] Moreover, there were electoral districts for the different army groups and fleets.[6] There were also an electoral district assigned for the workers at the Chinese Eastern Railroad and an one electoral district for the soldiers of the Russian Expeditionary Corps in France and the Balkans.[5]
No official electoral census exists. The estimated population of eligible voters at the time (excluding occupied territories) has been estimated at around 85 million, with the number of eligible voters in the districts were polling took place has been estimated at around 80 million.[5]
Each party had a separate ballot with a list with names of candidates, there was no general ballot. The voter would either have received copies of different party lists in advance or at the polling station. The voter would select one list, place it in an envelope, seal it and place it in the box. If any name was scratched, the vote would be invalid.[8]
The voting began on November 12-14, 1917.[9][7] The election was at the time the largest election organized in history.[10] However, only in 39 districts did the election take place as scheduled. In many districts the voting occurred in late November or early December, and in some remote placed the vote took place only in early January 1918.[3]
In spite of war and turmoil, some 47 million voters exercised their franchise, with a national voter turnout of around 64% (per Wade (2004)).[11][5] According to Wade (2004), the countryside generally had a higher voter turnout than the cities. 220 cities across the country, with a combined population of seven million, had a voter turnout of 58%. In agrarian provinces turnout generally ranged from 62 to 80%. In Tambov province urban areas had a turnout of 50.2% while rural areas had 74.5%.[12] According to Radkey (1989) national voter turnout stood at around 55%.[13]
The Socialist-Revolutionaries emerged as the most voted party in the election, swaying the broad majority of the peasant vote. However, the agrarian programmes of the SR and Bolshevik parties were largely similar. But the peasantry was more confident with the SRs, as they knew the party from before. The Bolsheviks lacked an organizational presence in many rural areas. In areas where the Bolshevik electoral campaign had been active (for example, near to towns or garrisons) the peasant vote was somewhat evenly divided between SRs and Bolsheviks.[14]
Moreover, whilst the SRs enjoyed widespread support among the peasantry, the party lacked a strong organizational structure in rural areas. The party was highly dependent on peasant union, zemstvos, cooperatives and soviets.[15]
On the issue of war and peace, the SR leadership had vowed not to enter into a separate peace with the Central Powers. The SR leadership condemned the peace talks initiated by the Bolsheviks, but to what extent the SR leadership was prepared to continue to the war was unclear at the time. Along with the Mensheviks, the SRs supported the notion of engaging with other European socialist politicians to find a settlement to the ongoing World War.[16]
The filing of nominations for the election took place just as the split in the SR party was taking place. By late October, when the SR party lists were already set, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries formed a separate party.[4][9][4] But whilst by the time of the election the Left SRs had constituted a separate party, the split was not completed in local SR party branches until early 1918.[15] The Kazan, Yaroslavl, Kazan and Kronstadt SR organizations went over to the Left SRs en bloc. In Ufa and Pskov the majority in the SR party organization crossed over to the Left SRs. In Petrograd the leftist faction had dominated the SR party branch prior to the October Revolution, but in the end around half of the SR party organization joined the Left SRs.[15] Notably in some of the locations leftist and rights SR lists were separately presented (Baltic Fleet, Petrograd, Kazan), the leftists prevailed over the rightists, leading D'Agostino (2011) to argue that had separate right/left SRs lists been presented nationwide the peasantry could have opted for the left (considering that there were no major difference between the factions on their agrarian programmes).[16]
A key Bolshevik argument against the legitimacy of the Constituent Assembly once it was elected was the fact that the lists had been finalized before the Left SRs constituted themselves as a separate party, and that if the Left SRs had stood separately the Bolshevik and Left SR would have won the majority vote.[17] Per Serge's account, 40 of 339 elected SR deputies were leftists and 50 belong to Chernov's centrist faction.[18]
In 1917 the Central Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) had begun to allow mass membership, without consulting with Lenin.[19] On July 1, 1917 the Central Committee sent out an instruction to local party organizations to build a broad democratic unity ahead of the elections, to reach out to Menshevik-Internationalists, left-wing SRs and trade unions.[19] In the wake of the abortive July uprising (organized by the revolutionary Petrograd Bolshevik Committee and the Military Organization), the moderates of the Central Committee again appealed to build a left socialist bloc and invited the Menshevik-Internationalists to attend the upcoming party congress as observers.[19] With the election finally approaching, Lenin took a though stand towards the Central Committee. The deplored the absence of proletarians from the list of proposed candidates that the Central Committee had adopted, charging the Committee with opening the doors for opportunists. In Lenin's view, only workers would be able to create alliances with the peasantry. One of the 'careerist' singled out by Lenin was Leo Trotsky (who recently had merged his Mezhraiontsy faction into the Bolshevik Party).[20]
The Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) campaigned for bread, peace and a government of Soviets.[21] But the party leadership was divided on the issue of the Constituent Assembly. The moderates in the Central Committee held the opinion that the Constituent Assembly should become the supreme body to decide the future path of Russia.[19] Lenin opposed this line. In an article edited after the elections, he stated that the proletariat cannot achieve victory if it does not win the majority of the population to its side. But to limit that winning to polling a majority of votes in an election under the rule of the bourgeoisie, or to make it the condition for it, is crass stupidity, or else sheer deception of the workers. In order to win the majority of the population to its side the proletariat must, in the first place, overthrow the bourgeoisie and seize state power; secondly, it must introduce Soviet power and completely smash the old state apparatus, whereby it immediately undermines the rule, prestige and influence of the bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeois compromisers over the non-proletarian working people. Thirdly, it must entirely destroy the influence of the bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeois compromisers over the majority of the non-proletarian masses by satisfying their economic needs in a revolutionary way at the expense of the exploiters.[20]
The party emerged victorious in the two main cities; Petrograd and Moscow, and emerged the major party in urban Russia overall.[14] It won an absolute majority of votes in the Baltic Fleet, the Northern Front and the Western Front.[14] The call for immediate peace made the Bolsheviks popular in the military, winning around 42% of the votes from the armed forces.[17] Often the election result is portrayed as an indicator for impopularity of the Bolsheviks, but as per Victor Serge the strong showing of the Bolshevik vote in the main cities 18 days after the October Revolution broke out shows that there was a popular mandate from the industrial workers for the Revolution.[18]
By the time of the election, the Mensheviks had lost most of their influence in the workers' soviets.[18] The election result confirmed the marginalization of the Mensheviks, obtaining a little over a million votes.[16] In a fifth of the constituencies, pro-war Mensheviks and Internationalists ran on competing slates and in Petrograd and Kharkov the defencists had set up their own local organizations.[22] Nearly half of the Menshevik vote came from Georgia.[18]
The Kadet party had changed its name to 'People's Freedom Party' by 1917, but the new name was rarely used.[23] Kadets campaigned for national unity, law and order, honour commitments to the allies of Russia and 'honorable peace'.[21] The Kadets condemned Bolsheviks in election campaign.[24] The Kadets had sought to build a broad democratic coalition, setting up a liaison committee for alliances (Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov, Andrei Ivanovich Shingarev and M. S. Adzhemov) but this effort failed as the Popular Socialists and cooperative movement rejected electoral pacts with the Kadets.[25]
Whilst the Kadets emerged as the main losers in the election, they did take a sizable share of the votes in the largest cities.[1] However the Kadets were hurt by abstention amongst urban intelligentsia voters.[26] They had also lost a large share of their habitual Jewish intelligentsia vote to Jewish national coalition lists.[26]
The congress of the Popular Socialists, held on September 26, 1917, rejected the notion of an electoral alliance with the Kadets.[25] The party congress ordered that joint lists would only be organized with fellow socialist groups.[25] The Popular Socialists condemned Bolsheviks in their campaigning, whilst stressing the defenist line of their own party.[24]
The cooperative societies held an emergency congress on October 4, 1917, at which it was decided that they would contest the Constituent Assembly elections directly.[27][25] The congress discarded the notion of electoral pacts with non-socialist groups.[25] In the Petrograd election district, the list of cooperative candidates included only one notable figure, Alexander Chayanov. The other six candidates were largely unknown.[28]
Most non-Russian voters opted for national minority parties. In the case of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party dominated the 4 electoral districts of the Ukrainian peasantry. Non-Ukrainian urban populations largely voted for Russian parties.[29] In Kiev city the Ukrainian parties obtained 26% of the vote.[30] However, in Belorussia, Belorussian nationalist groups gathered less than 1% of the votes. In Transcaucasus the vote was divided between Georgians (voting for Mensheviks), Armenians (voting for the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, also known as Dashnaksiun) and Azeris (voting for Musavat and other Muslim groups). Tatar and Bashkir lists gathered 55% of the votes in Ufa.[29]
In 14 electoral districts, 2 or more Jewish lists were in the fray.[10] In Zhitomir, 5 out of 13 parties contesting were Jewish.[10] in Gomel 4 out of 11 parties were Jewish, in Poltava 5 out of 14.[10] Some 80% of the votes cast for Jewish parties went to Jewish national coalition lists.[10] The Folkspartey was the most enthusiastic proponent of Jewish national coalition lists.[10] These coalitions, generally contesting under titles such as 'Jewish National Bloc' or 'Jewish National Election Committee' also gathered Zionists and Orthodox Jews.[10] The candidates on these lists had vowed to form a common bloc in the Constituent Assembly and implement decisions of the All-Russian Jewish Congress.[31] Jewish national lists elected Iu. D. Brutskus, A.M. Goldstein, the Moscow rabbi Yaakov Mazeh. V. I. Temkin, D. M. Kogan-Bernsthein, N. S. Syrkin and O. O. Gruzenberg (who was then close to Zionist circles). D.V. Lvovich was elected on SR-Fareynikte list and the Bundist G.I. Lure was elected on a Menshevik-Bund list.[32]
There various different account of the election result, with varying numbers.[33] Many accounts on the election result originate from N. V. Svyatitsky's account, who was himself elected as an SR deputy to the Constituent Assembly.[33] His article was included in the one-year anniversary symposium of the Russian Revolution organized by the SR party (Moscow, Zemlya i Volya Publishers, 1918). Lenin (1919) describes Svyatitsky's account as extremely interesting. It presented results from 54 electoral districts, covering most of European Russia and Siberia. Notably is lacked details from the Olonets, Estonian, Kaluga, Bessarabian, Podolsk, Orenburg, Yakutsk, Don governorates, as well as Transcaucasus. All in all, Svyatitsky's account includes 36,257,960 votes. According to Lenin, the actual number from said 54 electoral districts was 36,262,560 votes. But Lenin reaffirms that between Svyatitisky's article and his account, the number of votes cast by party is largely identical.[34]
Lenin's account of the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly result (54 districts)
More recent studies often use Svyatitsky's 1918 account as their starting point for further elaboration.[33] L. M. Spirin (1987) uses local newspapers and Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian archival holdings to supplement Svyatitsky, whereas Radkey predominately uses local newspapers as sources.[33] According to Arato (2017), U.S. scholar Oliver Henry Radkey is the most serious historian on the 1917 election.[35] According to Rabinovitch (2016), Spirin's account is the most complete.[33]
Spirin lumps parties together in the following categories; Bolsheviks, Kadets, SRs, Mensheviks, Petit-bourgeois nationalist, Bourgeois nationalist and Other.[6] Radkey presents some further detail on some parties, but also uses broad categories: SRs (sometimes distinguished between left/right), Bolsheviks, Mensheviks (sometimes divided between Menshevik-Internationalists and Right-wing pro-war Mensheviks), Other Socialists (with subcategories) Kadets, Special interests (including subcategories peasants, landowners, Cossacks, middle-class, others), Religious (Orthodox, Old Believers, others), Ukrainian (with subcategories), Turkic-Tatar (with subcategories), Other Nationalities (with subcategories).[36]
Wade (2004) presents the party affiliation of 765 deputies elected from 73 electoral districts: 347 SRs, 47 Ukrainian SRs, 175 Bolsheviks, 17 Mensheviks, 7 Ukrainian Social Democrats, 14 Kadets, 2 Popular Socialists, another 32 Ukrainian socialists (possibly SRs or social democrats), 13 Muslim Socialists, 10 Dashnaks, 68 from other national parties, 16 Cossacks, 10 Christians and one clergyman. Another 55 deputies were supposed to have been elected from another 8 electoral districts.[11] Of the over 700 deputies known by name, over 400 participated at first session and only session of the Constituent Assembly (240 of the assembled belonged to the SR bloc).[37]
Several prominent politicians had stood as candidates in multiple electoral districts. The Central Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) had named Lenin as their candidate in 5 districts: Petrograd City, Petrograd Province, Ufa, Baltic Fleet and Northern Front. Lenin was also nominated from Moscow City.[38] On November 27 (December 10) the All-Russia Committee for Elections to the Constituent Assembly requested members of the Constituent Assembly who had been returned by several areas to present a written statement indicating the electoral district for which they accepted election. Having been elected by several areas, Lenin, too, presented such a statement.[38] Lenin opted to represent the Baltic Fleet in the Constituent Assembly. In case an elected candidate didn't send in such a statement, the All-Russian Election Commission for the Constituent Assembly would consider the person elected from the district where he obtained the highest number of votes.[39]
The voting figures presented in the table below are from Radkey (1989)[40], unless stated otherwise. In various districts, Radkey is not able to present a full account of the vote. In many cases the sources available to Radkey did not include all the lists in a specific district, meaning that in the account as a whole smaller parties tend to get underrepresented in many of the district-wise accounts. In some districts Radkey uses different sources for different lists, creating partially incomplete listings.
The names of elected deputies originate from Protasov (2008).[41] Party identity has been simplified. SR lists often included labels such as 'Socialist-Revolutionaries and Congress of Peasants Deputies' or 'Earth and Will', for example, but are here just presented as SR.
The electoral district covered the Arkhangelsk Governorate.[42] Radkey's account is missing 4 uezds, representing some 25% of the electorate the Archangel electoral district.[43] Notably, Archangel had a different electoral system than the rest of the country, as voters voted for individual candidates rather than party lists.[43]
The electoral district covered the Olonets Governorate.[42] Olonets had special electoral system, electing 2 deputies and with each voter having 2 votes. Radkey's summary excludes 126,827 duplicate votes. The Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks had an electoral alliance, with each of the two parties presenting one candidate. Both were elected with big margins, SR candidate obtained 127,062 whilst the Menshevik candidate obtained 126,827 votes.[44]
The electoral district covered the Vologda Governorate.[42] Out of the 10 uezds in Vologda electoral district, Radkey's account has 1 uezds with a largely incomplete vote count and gaps in coverage in another 2 uezds. In Vologda the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks had a common list.[45] Soviet sources indicated that Social Democratic list was dominated by the Bolsheviks.[46]
Petrograd city constituted an electoral district of its own, separate from the rest of the Petrograd Governorate.[42] Voter turnout in the capital was estimated at between 69.7% and 72%.[47]
The Petrograd SR branch was dominated by left-wing elements.[48]
The electoral district covered the Petrograd Governorate, except for the capital city itself.[42] According to Radkey the result is incomplete, as data is missing for 7 minor lists.[51]
The electoral district covered the Pskov Governorate.[42] Out of 13 lists that were submitted to the electoral authorities, 4 were barred from contesting.[52] The SR list was dominated by Left SR elements.[53] A priest was killed in connection with the election day, one of few violent incidents across the country.[54]
The electoral district covered the Novgorod Governorate.[42] Whilst Novgorod was an agrarian province, the Bolsheviks obtained a good vote. This might have been due to the fact that many inhabitants were accustomed to perform seasonal work in nearby Petrograd.[55] 4 local peasants lists did not qualify to run in the election.[52]
The electoral district covered the Governorate of Estonia.[42] The Bolsheviks and Estonian Labour Party had their strongest support in Reval and northern Estonia. Bolsheviks obtained 47.6% of the votes cast in Reval. The Democratic Bloc obtained 53.4% in Tartu, and did also get a good number of votes in southern Estonia.[56] Notably, the Bolsheviks benefited from popular discontent with the failure of the Provisional Government to follow through on its promises of self-determination for Estonia.[56]
The electoral district covered the Livonia Governorate, as well as the parts of the Courland Governorate not under German occupation.[42] Latvia was a Bolshevik stronghold at the time, as only in Latvia did the Social Democrats continue to function as a political party following the waves of repression 1905-1908.[57] After the February Revolution, the political scene in Riga was similar to that of many other cities in Russia, with Bolsheviks becoming the dominant force in the soviets and competing for power with the moderate socialists and the city duma. By May 1917 the Bolsheviks had emerged as the main political force of Latvian Riflemen's soviet. Gradually the Bolsheviks began to dominate Riga, but on September 3, 1917 German troops seized control of the city.[58] In September 1917 the Bolsheviks had some 12,000 members in Latvia, the Mensheviks 2,600.[57]
97,781 votes (72%) were cast for Social-Democracy of the Latvian Territory, the Bolshevik affiliate organization in Latvia.[59] At the time Riga was under German occupation so no vote took place there. In 9 uezds some 9,000 votes are missing according to Radkey.[60]
The electoral district covered the Vitebsk Governorate.[42] White Russian separatism was a negligible force in the electoral district.[61] Grigorii (Zvi Hirsh) Bruk, Zionist and former Kadet deputy of the First Duma, stood as candidate of the Jewish National Electoral Committee.[62]
The electoral district consisted of the Minsk Governorate and the parts of the Vilna Governorate and the Kovno Governorate that were not under German occupation.[42][63] White Russian separatism was a negligible force in the electoral district.[61] The conservative press reported a quiet and orderly election in the province.[64] According to Radkey, his count of the result in Minsk is largely complete, only lacking 3 out of 25 volosts in Mozyrsky Uyezd. These 3 volosts had 16,755 eligible voters.[60]
The electoral district covered the Mogilev Governorate.[42] According to Radkey the vote count in Mogilev is largely incomplete. He claims to have the data for Gomel (with the votes for all 11 lists), Mogilev (with votes for the 7 most voted lists) and Orsha (with votes for the 6 most votes lists) towns as well as 80 precincts in Gomel uezd (but in these precincts, only the vote for SR and Bolshevik lists).[60] The SRs benefited from the fact that the leader heading the Mogilev Provincial Soviet of Peasants Deputies was largely popular in the province.[65]
The electoral district covered the Smolensk Governorate.[42] 2 volost-level lists were barred from participating in the election.[52] List no. 3, endorsed by Smolensk Provincial Council of SR Party and the Smolensk Provincial Congress of Peasants Deputies, was headed by E.K. Breshko-Breshkovskaia and Andrei Argunov.[66]
The electoral district covered the Moscow Governorate, excluding the city of Moscow.[42] According to Radkey's account, only few votes are missing from the summary (one military voting box in Moscow uezd, the votes from a single volost in Bronnitsy uezd and the votes for smaller parties in Serpukhov uezd).[60]
The electoral district covered the Tver Governorate.[42] Radkey lists the Tver result as 'somewhat incomplete'.[67]Russkoe Slovo reported that the election was conducted orderly, whilst SR organ Delo Naroda stated that Bolsheviks disrupted the polls in Rzhev uezd.[64] A farmer list was denied contesting the election in Tver.[52]
The Bolshevik list in Tver included as its candidates A. Y. Arosev, A. P. Vagzhanov, G. I. Gornov, A. I. Krinitsky, A. A. Medov, F. D. Panfilov and others.[68]
The electoral district covered the Yaroslavl Governorate.[42] In Yaroslavl city the Bolsheviks obtained 13,974 votes, Kadets 7,268 votes, SRs 3,303 and Mensheviks 2,853.[69]
The electoral district covered the Vladimir Governorate.[42] Vladimir was heavily industrialized, second only to Moscow itself. There were many textile mills in Ivanovo-Voznesensky. Out of 13 uezds, SR won in 2; Viazniki (east of industrial belt), an area with hemp and linen production where SRs scored 42,4%, and further east in Gorokhovets uezd, an area with no factories where SRs scored 57.4%.[55]) Out of 11 lists submitted, 7 were approved whilst 4 non-partisan peasants' lists were denied registration.[52]
The electoral district covered the Tula Governorate.[42] The votes from the city of Tula and 10 out 12 uezds are complete, according to Radkey. The votes from Efremov uezd and one of the volosts of Odoev uezd are not covered in Radkey's account.[60]
The electoral district covered the Ryazan Governorate.[42] Radkey's account is missing the vote from Egoriev uezd, 1 out of 12 uezds in the electoral district.[60]
The electoral district covered the Oryol Governorate.[42] The Kraiskovo electoral commission chair was killed by soldiers at the time of the election.[64]
The electoral district covered the Kursk Governorate.[42] Kursk was an agrarian, black-earth province with no industries. The Bolshevik vote was attributed to soldiers returning home from the front. [70]
The electoral district covered the Voronezh Governorate.[42] 8 out of 16 lists submitted were disqualified from contesting.[52]
In Voronezh city, the Kadets emerged victorious with 12 350 votes, followed by 2,611 votes for the SRs, 2,536 for Bolsheviks, 1,531 for Mensheviks and a smaller number of votes for the remaining lists.[71]
The electoral district covered the Tambov Governorate.[42] 73% electoral participation was reported, as the SRs had a good mobilization capacity among the peasantry. [72] In the Spassko-Kashminskaia canton, Morshansk uezd the SR local government banned the Bolshevik election campaign, alleging that the Bolsheviks were German spies. [73]
The electoral district covered the Penza Governorate.[42] 5 out of 11 submitted lists were disqualified (and some additional lists submitted their lists too late to register).[52] In Penza town there were 49,741 eligible voters, out of whom 17,583 voted (35%).[47]
The electoral district covered the Nizhni Novgorod Governorate.[42] Only in the Nizhni Novgorod constituency could the combined forces of clergy and far right make an electoral impact. [74]The Christian Union for Faith and Fatherland had a relative success. [75]
The electoral district covered the Kazan Governorate.[42] 66% turnout was reported.[47] The Chuvash largely voted for the SRs, and the local SR party branch was dominated by leftist elements. [76]The Tatars voters were split between leftist and rightist lists. [77]
The electoral district covered the Samara Governorate.[42] Electoral turnout at 54.86%.[47] Out of 95 different lists submitted, 79 turned down (out of which approx 42 due to late submission).[52] The constituency had large German and Tatar minorities. [78] In Samara city the Bolsheviks polled 42% of the vote, the SRs 27% and Kadets 14%.[15]
The electoral district covered the Saratov Governorate.[42] Saratov had been one of the early strongholds of the SRs. [79] Kerensky was one of the SR candidates, but many voters scratched his name from the list (and thus made their votes invalid). [8] was politically turbulent, also during the election. [8] In Saratov Bolshevik campaigners were frequently attacked by rich farmers.[73] Whilst the SR won in the largely agrarian district, the Bolsheviks had a strong showing, with strong support from soldiers and from the industrial city of Tsaritsyn.[64]Khvalynsk uezd was an Old Believer stronghold, with presence of Khlysty and Skoptsky sects. [80]
The German socialists didn't field a list in Saratov, whilst the German Central Committee contested on the Volga German List 7.[81]
In Tsaritsyn 32,984 votes were cast; 16,613 for the Bolsheviks, 4,468 for the SRs, 2,889 for the Kadets and 2,669 for the Mensheviks.[82]
The electoral district covered the Vyatka Governorate.[42] 8 out of 20 submitted lists were disqualified.[52]Cheremis ran on a joint list with the Popular Socialists. [83] Radkey's account only includes full result for 3 lists (Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Orthodox), albeit the number of votes for the Orthodox list has been rounded off. The real vote of the other nine lists, according to Radkey, would have been more than double that what is accounted for.[60]
The electoral district covered the Ufa Governorate.[42] Ufa was a multinational constituency. [78] List 1, the 'Federalists-Bashkirs' (fielded by the Ufa Governorate Secretariat of the Bashkir Central Council), was headed by Ahmet-Zaki Ahmetšachovič Validov.[84] The SR list was dominated by leftist elements.[40]
The electoral district covered the Orenburg Governorate.[42] According to Radkey, his account of the Bashkir Federalist vote is underestimated, believing that the real figure would land at around 100,000.[75]
The electoral district covered the Kiev Governorate.[42] Kiev was a historical Black Hundred stronghold, and monarchists got some 3% of the votes in the district. [86]
The electoral district covered the Volhynian Governorate.[42] 17 submitted lists rejected, out of which 5 were peasants' lists.[52] The western parts of the electoral governorate were under German or Austrian occupation.[60] Radkey expresses concern that the votes account from Volynia (exclusively brought from the 1918 study by Sviatitski) may have been largely incomplete, possibly an effect of the proximity to the battle lines.[60]
The electoral district covered the Podolian Governorate.[42] Podolia was close to the frontline. [87] Radkey cites that the Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party organ Robitchna Gazeta reported that elections were held in Podolia between Dec 3-7, and presented results from 9 out of 12 uezds, but Robitchna Gazeta's party tally greater than the vote cast in the 9 uezds, possibly pointing to results included from the remaining 3 uezds.[87] The conservative Russkoe Slovo reported normal voting conditions in Podolia.[64]
The electoral district covered the Chernigov Governorate.[42] Chernigov was an agrarian province. The Bolshevik Party was absent in most uezds and weak in others. But returning soldiers, about a quarter of the electorate, boosted the Bolshevik vote. [88]
The electoral district covered the Poltava Governorate.[42] Poltava was an agrarian province . [89]Voter turnout was reported at 74%.[47] The Russian SRs (dominated by the left) ran a joint list with the Ukrainian SRs (dominated by Left) [90]The Selianska Spilka ('Village Union'), the agrarian wing of the Ukrainian SR, confronted the Farmers (Landowners) Party, excluding Landowners from local election commissions. The campaign against the Landowners Party occasional took violent shape.[89]
The electoral district covered the Kharkov Governorate.[42] The SR list in Kharkov was dominated by the left-wing, contesting jointly with the Ukrainian SRs. The rightwing pro-war SR faction had its own list, headed by E.K. Breshko-Breshkovskaia. [91] The Bolsheviks won the election in Kharkov city. [91]
The electoral district covered the Yekaterinoslav Governorate.[42] Yekaterinoslav was a large province; ethnically and economically diverse. [92] The Ekaterinoslav electoral district recorded the highest vote for a landowners list in the country. List 1 Landowners and Nonpartisan Progressives gathered 26,597 votes (2.2%), and was headed by Mikhail Rodzianko (an Octobrist leader, having served as the presiding officer in the 3rd and 4th Dumas, elected on the Stolypin franchise). [93] The conservative press reported a quiet and orderly election in the province.[64]
The electoral district covered the Kherson Governorate.[42] According to Radkey, the Odessa city results appeared complete, the Odessa uezd possibly incomplete, the Kherson uezd having results from 195 out of 223 voting centers, no indication about whether 2 other uezds' results were complete or not. From the remaining 2 uezds the results were missing altogether.[60]
D. Lvovich of Fareynikte elected as SR list candidate.[94]
The electoral district covered the Bessarabia Governorate.[42] Radkey's account is substantially incomplete. [95] According to Radkey, only the results from Kishinev and 3 out of 8 uezds could be gathered by scholars.[96] The 5 uezds left out of the count were more populous.[60] 17 lists were in the fray in Bessarabia. The demographics of the district were divided between Rumanians (48%), Ukrainians (20%) and Russians (8%). Among the elected deputies, SR deputies were Jewish or Russian, whilst the peasant soviet deputies were Rumanian.[96]
As per Serge, some 600,000 people took part in the vote, with the Peasant soviet obtaining some 200,000 votes, SRs 200,000 votes, Jewish national list 60,000, Kadets 40,000 and the Moldavian National Party 14,000.[97]
Some 12,000 votes were cast in the Kishinev garrison (60% voter turnout); The Internationalist list got 4,859 votes, the SRs 4,689 votes, 845 for Ukrainian socialists and 704 for the Kadets.[98]
The electoral district covered the Taurida Governorate.[42] One peasant list had been denied registration.[52]
Taurida had a 54.74% voter turnout.[47] Radkey's account is missing Berdiansk uezd with some 3,400 electors and Vodiansk volost of Melitopol uezd.[60] All in all there were 753 precincts in the Taurida electoral district.[60]
The electoral district covered the Don Host Oblast.[42] The Provisional Government had provided a degree of autonomy to the Don region, recognizing the authority of the Cossacks over the land. In June 1917 General Alexey Kaledin was elected as ataman. The Kadets had sought to form a joint Kadet-Cossack list in the district, and a number of Kadet national leaders had visited the area ahead of the election. The effort failed, over differences of opinion on land ownership of non-Cossacks.[25]
In Rostov-on-Don the Bolsheviks obtained 25,529 votes, Cossacks 14,248 votes and the Kadets 13,637 votes.[99] In Nakhichevan-on-Don the Bolsheviks obtained 9,172 votes, Kadets 3,426 votes and Cossacks 2,556 votes.[99]
The electoral district covered the Kuban Oblast and the Black Sea Governorate.[42] Kuban was fully engulfed by civil war by the time of the vote.[5] 16 seats had been allotted to the Kuban-Black Sea electoral district, but the election was only held in Ekaterinodar and some surrounding villages were the Kuban Territorial Council was in control. [101][5]
Ter-Dagestan
The electoral district covered the Terek Oblast (except the Karanogai precinct and the aimak of the Kalmyks) and the Dagestan Oblast.[42] Voting was delayed in Ter-Dagestan and was held between November 26 and December 5. In some areas the votes were counted but not reported, in other areas votes were left uncounted. [102] In Radkey's account a complete result was only available for Vladikavkaz city. He includes sporadic results of the major parties in some towns and garrisons. Radkey's account contains no results from rural areas.[60]
Bolsheviks obtained 44% of the vote in Vladikavkaz. This situation could be compared to that by March 1917 the Bolshevik Party had been so weak in the city that it had been decided to form a joint Bolshevik-Menshevik Party Committee in the city.[100] According to Wade, the election was not carried through to completion in Ter-Dagestan.[5]
The Caspian electoral district, which included areas of the Kalmyk steppe of the Astrakhan Governorate, was thinly populated.[101] 1 seat was assigned to the constituency.[101] A special Pricaspian electoral district had been formed, including areas of the Kalmyk steppe of Astrakhan governorate.[7] The Pricaspian Oblast Election Commission was set up on September 16, 1917 by the Central Committee for the Kalmyk People's Administration.[7] The Chairman was B.E. Krishtafovich, CCKPA Chairman, accompanied by members I.O. Ochirov (assistant CCKPA chair), S.B. Bayanov, E.A. Sarangov, E.S. Bakayev and with F.I. Plyunov as its secretary.[7] On September 23, 1917 the Pricaspian Oblast Election Commission set up 52 electoral precincts: 10 in Maloderbetovsky ulus 10 precincts, 10 in Manychsky ulus, 7 in Yandyko-Mochaznyi ulus, 12 in Ikitsokhuro-Kharakhusovksy 12, 9 precincts in the uluses of Bagaotsokhuro-Khoshoutovsky and Erketenevsky and 4 precincts in the Kuma aimak of the Terek oblast (which initially had not been planned to be part of the Caspian Electoral District).[7] A list was submitted, signed by 137 electors, with the 33-year old lawyer Sandzhi Bayanovich Bayanov as its candidate.[7] Due to late arrival of electoral material, the vote was postponed to November 26-28, 1917.[7] The vote was reportedly held on these dates, in some places with very low turnout. Bayanov received a majority of votes.[7]
Bolsheviks won the election Baku city (followed closely by Musavat and Dashnaksiun), Ittihad won the elections in the rural areas of Baku uezd, in the villages of the Absheron Peninsula. Musavat won most of the Azerbaijani vote in Baku guberniia, followed by Ittehad.[105] In Tiflis the Bolsheviks quadrupled their vote compared to the July 1917 city duma election.[107]
The numbers in the column to the right originate from Hovannisian (1967)[108] and Vestnik Evrazii (2004)[109] The source for Vestnik Evrazii for the results stems from the State Archive of the Russian Federation.[109]
These two references present a more complete account than that of Radkey. Radkey’s account lists a total of 1,887,453 votes, including 215,121 unspecified residue votes. [40] Radkey’s effort to map the votes in Transcaucasus was frustrated by the insistence of Soviet source to lump parties like Musavat and Dashnaksiun into a single bloc.[75]
Between Hovannisian and Vestnik Evrazii, the votes for the Mensheviks, Kadets, SRs and Bolsheviks are identical. Vestnik Evrazii presents the vote for the Popular Socialist list, which is not detailed in Hovannasian. Vestnik Evrazii groups the Dashnaks, the Muslim Socialist Bloc and Hummet together (825,672 votes) and 728,206 for Bourgeois parties (presumably including Musavat). In the case of Musavat, Hummet, Ittihad and Dashnaks, the figures from Hovannisian are used. Hovannisian does not present a total of votes, so the total from Vestnik Evrazii is utilized instead.
Comparing the account from Hovannisian with that of Swietochowski (2004)[103] the numbers for the Mensheviks, Musavat, the Muslim Socialist Bloc, SRs, Hummet and Ittihad are identical. The minor discrepancies between Hovannisian and Swietochowski are different vote for Bolshevik list (93,581 in Hovannisian and Vestnik Evrazii, 95,581 in Switeochowski), the Dashnaks got 40 votes more in Swietochowski’s account and Swietochowski lists a total of 2,455,274 (plus 2,172 compared to Vestnik Evrazii).[103] Maḣmudov (2004)[110] and Balaev (1998)[111] carries the same numbers as Swietochowski.
Transcaucasus per Hovannisian (1967)/Vestnik Evrazii (2004)
The electoral district covered the Tobolsk Governorate.[42] Tobolsk hosted one of only 2 undivided Social Democratic lists in the fray across the country. [112] Soviet sources indicated that the Social Democratic list was Menshevik-dominated. [46]
Soviet sources reported voter turnout at a mere 33.5%.[47]
The electoral district covered the Akmolinsk Oblast and the Semipalatinsk Oblast.[42] Radkey's account only includes votes from Omsk and surroundings.[60] According to Wade (2004), it is unclear whether the election was carried through to completion in the electoral district.[5]
The electoral district covered the Tomsk Governorate.[42] 3 out of 9 lists submitted were rejected by the electoral authorities, including a moderate Turko-Tatar list.[52][40]
12,046 votes were cast at the Tomsk garrison. The Bolshevik list won 69% of the votes there, with 8,316 votes. The SR list got 2,683 votes (22.27%), the Kadet list 385 votes (3.20%), Popular Socialist 278 votes (2.31%), 73 votes (0.61%) for the Menshevik list and 10 votes (0.08%) for the Cooperative list.[113]
The electoral district covered the Yenisei Governorate.[42] Moreover, the Russian citizens living in the Uryankhay Kray formed part of the constituency.[42] 1 submitted peasant list was rejected.[52] According to Radkey the results from Krasnoyarsk city and 5 out of 6 uezds appeared complete, with thinly populated Turukhansk uezd missing.[60]
The Priamursky electoral district consisted of the Amur Oblast, the Maritime Province and the Sakhalin Oblast.[42][96][115] However, local leaders had preferred to have three separate constituencies.[115] The election was held on time in the constituency. From the Maritime Province the results were seemingly complete. In areas north of the Amur river some problems in voting occurred, with 312 polling stations reporting and 77 didn't (another reference stated that no election had been held in some 50 polling stations). The constituency had no significant ethnic minority except Ukrainians[116]
The SRs had suffered a four-way split in the constituency, with the branches in Amur and Maritime contesting separately. Ahead of the election the Maritime Province Peasants Soviets threw out the SR party representatives and fielded a separate list (in Amur, however, the peasants soviets stayed loyal to the SR party).[96] There was also a left SR list, distinctively urban.[96]
In Khabarovsk, 5,445 out of 12,727 eligble voters cast their votes; Kadets 1,639 votes (30.10%), Maritime Province SR 968 votes (17.78%), Maritime Peasants Soviet 712 votes (13.08%), Mensheviks 662 votes (12.16%), Bolsheviks 652 votes (11.97%), Cossacks 623 votes (11.44%), Ukrainian Bloc 85 votes (1.56%), Amur SR 24 votes (0.44%) and Left SR 18 votes (0.33%).[117]
In Blagoveshchensk the Kadets finished in first place (with some 2,800 votes), followed by the Mensheviks (2,300 votes), Bolsheviks (1,983 votes) and Amur SRs (1,267) votes.[117] In Nikolayevsk-on-Amur 1,529 votes were cast; Kadets 411 votes (26.88%), Maritime Province SRs 400 votes (26.16%), Mensheviks 311 votes (20.34%), Bolsheviks 287 votes (18.77%) and others 120 votes (7.85%).[117]
The Chinese Eastern Railroad electoral district was located outside the borders of Russia.[5] In March 1917, in response to the abdication of the Tsar, Lieutenant General Dmitri Horvath (the Chinese Eastern Railroad Zone administrator since 1902) proclaimed an 'All Russian Provisional Government' based in Harbin.[118][119][120] However, Horvath's regime was soon challenged by emergence of soviet power in the Chinese Eastern Railroad Zone (to the dismay of Western powers).[118] Nevertheless, Harbin was far detached from events in Petrograd and a more liberal atmosphere prevailed in Russian politics there; foreign diplomats took note that the monarchist Horvath and the Bolshevik leader Martemyan Ryutin could meet for lunch at the Railway Club in Harbin.[121]
Four candidates were nominated for the Chinese Eastern Railroad seat; Horvath ran as the Kadet candidate, representing the pre-revolutionary status quo. Nikolai Strelkov of the Railwaymens' Union contested as the Menshevik candidate, the Jewish businessman and Chair of the Chinese Eastern Railroad Executive Committee Faytel Volfovich was the SR candidate and the ensign and Harbin Soviet chairman Ryutin the Bolshevik candidate.[122][123][124][121]
The vote was held for the Chinese Eastern Railroad seat on November 29, 1917.[123] The voter turnout stood at around 60%.[122]
According to a contemporary account published in the organ of the Nikolsk-Ussuriysky Soviet (whose totals differ somewhat from the figures of Radkey), the vote in Harbin was won by Strelkov (4,874 votes, 31.74%), followed by Horvath (4,450 votes, 28.98%), Ryutin (4,412 votes, 28.73%) and Volfovich (1,620 votes, 10.55%).[117] In the 26 precincts of the western line, Ryutin was the most vote candidate (5,991 votes, 38.25%), followed by Strelkov (5,845 votes, 37.32%), Volfovich (2,519 votes, 16.08%) and Horvath (1,307 votes, 8.35%).[117] In the four precincts of the eastern line, Ryutin emerged as the winner with 1,461 votes (39.84%), followed by Strelkov (1,187 votes, 32.37%), Volfovich (831 votes, 22.66%) and Horvath (188 votes, 5.13%).[117]
The electoral district covered the Yakutsk Oblast.[42] An election was held and deputies elected, but Radkey was unable to trace the any voting figures.[101]
Deputies Elected
Xenophonov
Federal Labour Union
Pankratov
SR
Kamchatka
The electoral district covered the Kamchatka Oblast.[42] The vote was held in the Kamchatka electoral on October 29, 1917, well ahead of the rest of the country, in order to allow its sole deputy to be able to catch the last steamship to Petrograd to attend the opening of the Constituent Assembly.[5] Radkey claims to only have been able to trace results from the town of Zavoyko, but the Zavoyko poll was disqualified as the vote had been held one day in advance.[60] 275 people had voted in Zavoyko, 258 of them for SR, 9 for Social Democrats and 8 for others. [40]
The Horde (or 'Orda') electoral district covered the areas of the Bukey Horde in the Transvolga, which were areas of the Astrakhan Governorate.[5][42] Khanskaya Stavka was the administrative center of the electoral district.[5] According to Radkey, 2 lists had registered in the Horde electoral district. As per Radkey's account, no information on whether election was held.[40] As per Wade (2004), members of the local revolutionary committee began arresting the District Election Commission officials as the vote tallying was ongoing.[5]
The electoral district covered the Transcaspian Oblast, except for most of the Mangyshlak uezd (only the volosts inhabited by Turkmens remained part of the Transcaspian electoral district).[42] The Transcaspian electoral district was assigned 2 seats in the Constituent Assembly.[101] According to Radkey, an election was held but results not known.[101] Per Wade (2004), it is certain that no election took place in the Transcaspian electoral district.[5]
Samarkand
The electoral district covered the Samarkand Oblast.[42] Samarkand was assigned 5 seats.[101] According to Radkey, an election was held but results were not known to him.[101]
The electoral district covered the Amu Darya Division of the Syr-Darya Oblast.[42] According to Radkey, not known whether voting took place, no results. 1 seat had been allotted to Amu Darya.[101] Per Wade (2004), it is certain that no election took place in Amu Darya.[5]
Syr Darya
The electoral district covered the Syr-Darya Oblast, except for the Amu Darya Division.[42] Voting was postponed until mid-Dec 1917, then to January 19, 1918.[102] In the end no vote ever took place.[102][5] 9 seats had been allotted to Syr Darya.[101]
Fergana
The electoral district covered the Fergana Oblast.[42] Election was held and deputies elected, but Radkey unable to trace the any voting figures.[101] Seemingly, per Soviet sources cited by Radkey, there were 5 deputies elected from Fergana, out of whom 1 SR.[61]
The electoral district covered the Semirechie Oblast.[42] The electoral battle in Semirechie stood between a general soviet list (SRs and Mensheviks) and the Kirgiz-Cossack alliance. The Bolshevik list had been banned.[40]
The electoral district covered the military forces and employees and workers at bases under the command of the Baltic Fleet.[125] The Baltic Fleet was a revolutionary bastion.[86] Electoral participation stood at around 70%. 76% of sailors voted, but the sailors were outnumbered by workers and soldiers at the naval bases.[47] Baltic Fleet used a separate electoral system, where the voter could vote for two individual candidates rather than fixed party lists.[126][127]
The Bolsheviks in Tsentrobalt submitted their petition, with some two hundred signatures, to the electoral commission on October 12, 1917.[127] Their list had Lenin as its first candidate and with Pavel Dybenko as its second name.[127] Whilst the conducting the election campaign, the Bolsheviks in the Baltic Fleet prepared their role in the pending uprising against the Provisional Government.[127]
On the diametrical opposite end of the political spectrum was the Officers' Union or PROMOR. Different officers groups had emerged in the wake of the February Revolution, with the Union of Naval Officers of Revel (SMOR) being the most dynamic.[127] SMOR was led by Commander Boris Dudorov, who would be named Deputy Minister of War for the Navy under Kerensky.[128] In Helsingfors the first officers' union had been formed on March 10, 1917, led by captains I. I. Rengarten and Prince M. B. Cherkassky.[129] This group had some 200 followers, including SR-oriented officers.[129] The Rengarten-Cherkassky liberal group was initially affiliated with the Union of Officer-Republicans of the People's Army, but this bond did not last as the latter platform shifted further to the left.[127] A more right-wing oriented and larger group in Helsingfors was formed on March 22, 1917; the Union of Union of Officer-Republicans, Doctors and Officials of the Army and Navy of the Sveaborg Base with Lt. Vladimir Demchinsky as its chairman.[127][129] Demchinsky's group included Kadets and conservatives, and opposed socialism.[129] SMOR and Demchinsky's group supported the Provisional Government and opposed to revolutionary and antiwar politics in the navy. There were also smaller groups of officials (such as in Åbo).[127][129] On May 23, 1917 the different officers' groups united in the 'All-Baltic Professional Union of Officers, Doctors and Officials of the Fleet and Bases of the Baltic Sea' or PROMOR.[127] The Officers' Union candidates for the Constituent Assembly were Demchinsky and Rengarten.[127]
The official SR list for the Baltic Fleet constituency was dominated by the left-wing.[127] Its candidates were Prosh Proshian and Pavel Shishko.[127] The right-wing SRs fielded Sergey Tsion (leader of the 1906 Sveaborg rebellion) and Maslov as their candidates.[127] The fifth and last candidature was a supposedly non-partisan group with Lopatin and Magnitzky as their candidates.[130]
The election campaign received plenty attention in the fleet newspapers.[127] The campaign of non-Bolshevik candidates was largely confined to Helsingfors.[127] The outcome of the vote indicated strong dissatisfaction with the performance of the Provisional Government, as the combined Bolshevik/Left SR vote stood at around 85% (the highest of all electoral constituencies nationwide).[127] Radkey claims Dybenko was the most voted Bolshevik candidate, placing Lenin second.[126] Dybenko was himself a sailor, and likewise in the case of the SRs sailor candidates Shisko and Maslov scored higher votes than non-sailor political leaders.[127]
Saul (1978) expresses strong concerns over the accuracy of the result presented by Radkey.[127] Saul (1978) reports the following result from the Helsingfors region of the Baltic Fleet electoral district (with results from 97 out of 100 electoral precincts); 22,670 votes for Dybenko, 22,237 votes for Lenin, 13,617 votes for Shishko, 12,906 votes for Proshian, 7,620 votes for Maslov, 7,351 votes for Tsion, 855 votes for Demchinsky and 838 votes for Rengarten.[127] According to Soviet sources the non-partisan group got one percent of the votes in Helsingfors.[127] In Kronstadt a 84% vote for the Bolsheviks was recorded.[127] On the battleships the Bolsheviks won some 70% of the vote, whilst the (left) SRs dominated the vote in the Åbo–Åland region (which had smaller ships).[127]
Apart from the Northern Front itself, the electoral district also included the Russian troops stationed in Finland (except those under the Baltic Fleet command) as well as the Lake Peipus Flotilla.[125] Voter turnout stood at 72.36482% per official records.[47]
The electoral district covered the Western Front.[125] The result for Muslim Socialists stems from a newspaper report in Russkiye Vedomosti, which had data from 472 out of 602 voting centres.[131]
The electoral district covered the Rumanian Front.[125] Moreover, the constituency covered the Danube Flotilla.[125] To Radkey some 12,000-15,000 votes appeared to be missing from official records.[131]
The electoral district covered the Caucasian Front.[125] Moreover it included the Urmia-Van Flotilla.[125] Radkey's summary only includes votes from Erzerum fortress, with 16,824 votes. [132] However, the Ukrainian vote in Erzerum was missing in the source material available to Radkey.[131]
The Russian Expeditionary Force in France and the Russian troops in the Balkans (the Salonika Front) formed electoral districts of its own, with some 50,000 eligible voters.[5][125] Each of these districts were supposed to elect one deputy each.[125] According to Wade (2004) it is unclear whether any election took place among these forces.[5]
A sheet with samples of the ballots of different parties contesting the Petrograd Province electoral district. The sheet had been distributed by the electoral authorities prior to the vote, urging voters to cut out their preferred ballot and bring it to the polling station.[133] The ballots include the listing of names of candidates, with their addresses. The Bolshevik List (No. 2) is headed by Lenin, the Menshevik List (No. 3) is headed by Mikhail Liber. The Estonian List (No. 4) ballot is bilingual, with the candidate listing appearing in both Russian and Estonian (the latter written in Fraktur script).
Kadet electoral poster, illustrating a mounted warrior confronting a monster. The monster represents anarchy, the mounted warrior democracy.
Poster issued by the Petrograd Commercial-Industrial Union, calling traders, producers and craftsmen to vote for the Kadet List 2
Kadet election poster. A female horse-rider, carrying a sword and a shield with the word Svoboda ('Freedom').
Kadet election poster, showing a woman in traditional garb.[134] Work by Piotr Buchkin.
Bulletin issued by the Kadet Party branch in Harbin, campaigning for its candidate D. Horvath for the Chinese Eastern Railway seat
Poster urging voters to only vote for Social Democrats, with reference to a List 4
Social Democratic election poster, illustrating a lighthouse sending out beacons. The list number is left vacant, allowing party branches in different parts of the country to adapt the poster with their local list number.
Menshevik electoral poster
A Russian-Yiddish Fareynikte (United Jewish Socialist Workers Party) poster, announcing an electoral campaign meeting
A SR election poster, calling on Peasants, Workers and Soldiers to vote for the party. The slogan Earth and Will appears twice in the poster, and the letters SR figure on the bell.
Badcock, Sarah. "'We're for the Muzhiks' Party!'Peasant Support for the Socialist Revolutionary Party During 1917." Europe-Asia Studies 53.1 (2001): 133-149.
Rabinovitch, Simon. "Russian Jewry goes to the polls: an analysis of Jewish voting in the All‐Russian Constituent Assembly Elections of 1917." East European Jewish Affairs 39.2 (2009): 205-225.
Radkey, Oliver Henry. Russia goes to the polls: the election to the all-Russian Constituent Assembly, 1917 (Cornell University Press, 1989)
Smith, Scott Baldwin. Captives of Revolution: The Socialist Revolutionaries and the Bolshevik Dictatorship, 1918–1923 (University of Pittsburgh Pre, 2011)
Von Hagen, Mark. Soldiers in the proletarian dictatorship: the Red Army and the Soviet socialist state, 1917-1930 (Cornell University Press, 1990)