Elections in the Soviet Union (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Elections in the Soviet Union are divided into two types, direct and indirect ones. Direct elections are used to elect the members of village soviets, raion soviets and workplace soviets. Indirect elections are used to elect the members of city, oblast and autonomous republic congresses of soviets which in turn will elect the members of congresses of soviets of the constituent republics who, also, elect the members of Congress of Soviets at union-level.

The electoral system of the Soviet Union is very complicated. Based on the principle of council democracy, the higher levels of congress of soviets up to the All-Union Congress of Soviets are indirectly elected by the soviets of the level immediately below.

In 1946, new electoral reforms for direct elections were introduced to unify the selection and voting methods throughout the union as well as to preserve the Communist Party's control over the election. Unlike the first-past-the-post voting of several different candidates, the candidates are presented in a single list. The nomination can be made by the "political, social and other mass organizations committed to the development of socialism", which meant it is limited to the Communist Party, Komsomol, cooperatives, labour unions, and the Red Army units.

The nominated candidates to the village soviets, raion soviets and workplace soviets then should heed to a "meeting of electors". During the meetings, the candidates are narrowed down based on the discussions or agreements of the meeting attendants. After the numbers of candidates are narrowed down, the election committee prepares the final list of candidates. This final list is later presented to the voters during the general election. Voters can choose whether to rank the candidates based on their preferences or to cast the ballots without any mark.

The election employs the single transferable vote; the candidates with the most first rank in proportion to the available seats are automatically elected, while the votes of lower ranked candidates are transferred to other candidates based on their ranks by the voters. A blank ballot, on other hand, is counted as an affirmation to the list; if there are three available seats in a constituent, top three candidates each receives one vote. Top candidates, of course, are always the members of Communist Party, usually the prominent ones, and the second way of voting is actively encouraged by the party activists.

When control of the party on the election was relaxed in the 1960s, the selection of candidates during the electoral meetings are mandated to be held in secret ballot, rather in an open one or through acclamation. The candidates can also be self-nominated if he/she can collects a certain number of signatures from registered voters in one constituency. The latter notably enables independent candidates from different political spectrum of the left, such anarcho-syndicalists, democratic socialists and left-wing nationalists, to stand in the elections albeit the formation of opposition parties are still legally prohibited.