Acta Musealia

Elections to Local National Committees and the District National Committee in 1954 in the Holešov District

Elections to the National Committees in May 1954 were the first direct elections whatsoever, respectively, due to the character of the political regime of that time, quasi-elections, to these institutions since their revolutionary establishment at the end of the Second World War. If we do not take into account the parliamentary elections, which took place three months after the coup in February 1948, then these elections were also the first to take place fully under the direction of the Communist regime. In spite of this, or perhaps rather because of this, certain ‘teething problems’ were present at their preparation, such as, for instance, occasional simultaneous candidacy of more candidates of the regime. At the same time, it proved impossible by then to ‘orchestrate’ the electoral behaviour of the voters, which, only a few years later, according to the official election results and the regime propaganda, was typical by practically all electorate voting for the candidates of the National Front. The contribution focuses on the preparation and subsequent results of the elections to the Municipal and District National Committees in Holešov region.

Keywords: Holešov region, elections, National Committees, Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, 1954