Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 28 and 29 May 1939.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p899 The result was a victory for the Party of Hungarian Life, which won 181 of the 260 seats in Parliament (72 percent of the parliament's seats) and won 49 percent of the popular vote in the election. Pál Teleki remained Prime Minister.Nohlen & Stöver, p940Georgi Karasimeonov. Cleavages, parties, and voters: studies from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. Pp. 70. This was a major breakthrough for the far-right in Hungary; between them, far-right parties were officially credited with 49 seats and 25 percent of the vote.
This was the closest thing to a free election that Hungary had seen at that point. According to historian Stanley G. Payne, the far-right bloc would have almost certainly won more seats had the election been conducted in a truly fair manner, and possibly garnered an "approximately equal" seat count and vote share with the Party of Hungarian Life.Payne, p. 275
Electoral system The electoral system was changed from that used in 1935. The number of single-member constituencies was reduced from 199 to 135, whilst the number of multi-member constituencies was raised from 11 to 38.Nohlen & Stöver, pp920-921Nohlen & Stöver, p933 Additionally, the franchise had been significantly expanded, with all men over 26 and all women over 30 now allowed to vote.
Parties and leaders PartyLeader Hungarian Life Party (MÉP) Pál Teleki Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (FKgP) Arrow Cross Party (NYKP) Ferenc Szálasi Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP) Árpád Szakasits Christian National Socialist Front (KNSZF) United Hungarian National Socialist Party (EMNSZP) Fidél Pálffy National Front (NF) János Salló Civic Freedom Party (PSZP) United Christian Party (EKP) János Zichy
Results
The total number of registered voters was 4,629,493, but only 4,355,778 voters were registered in contested seats.
By constituency type
Notes
References
hu:Magyarországi országgyűlési választások a Horthy-rendszerben#Az 1939-es választások