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Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 14 and 15 July 1940, alongside simultaneous elections in Estonia and Lithuania,[1] following the Soviet occupation of the three countries. The Communist Party of Latvia was legalised, and it created the "Latvian Working People's Bloc" (essentially an enlarged Communist Party) to take part in the elections.[2] It was the sole permitted participant in the elections; an attempt to include the Democratic Bloc (Demokrātiskais bloks), an alliance of all now-banned Latvian parties except the Social Democratic Workers' Party, on the ballot was suppressed.[3]
The main figures of the Democratic Bloc were either arrested and deported (Atis Ķeniņš, Pēteris Berģis and Jānis Bankavs) or shot (Hugo Celmiņš) shortly afterwards, while a few (Voldemārs Zāmuēls, Jānis Breikšs) managed to escape the repression by fleeing from the country.[citation needed] As was the case in Estonia and Lithuania, the elections were blatantly rigged, with the Working People’s Bloc winning every seat.
- ^ Romuald J. Misiunas & Rein Taagepera (1983) The Baltic States, Years of Dependence, 1940-1980, University of California Press, p25
- ^ Gints Zelmenis, "Absurdas lappuses vēsturē – 75 gadi kopš tā sauktās Latvijas Tautas Saeimas vēlēšanām", Latvijas Avīze, 14 July 2015
- ^ Misiunas & Taagepera, p26