Assembly of Representatives election, 1944
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Legislature |
Elections to the Assembly of Representatives were held in Mandatory Palestine on 2 August 1944.[1] Just over 200,000 Jewish residents voted, more than 70% of all those eligible to vote. This compared with just over 50,000 who voted at the previous elections in 1931. The difference reflected the high level of Jewish immigration to Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s.
Campaign
A total of 24 parties contested the elections, nominating 1,694 candidates.[1] However, the Revisionist-Zionist Hatzohar party, Sephardic Jews, the General Zionist Group “B” and the Jewish Farmers Association boycotted the elections.[2]
Results
Party | Votes | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
Mapai | 73,122 | 36.85 | 64 |
Left Bloc (Hashomer Hatzair–Poale Zion Left) | 24,582 | 12.39 | 21 |
New Aliyah Party | 21,279 | 10.72 | 19 |
Hapoel HaMizrachi | 18,748 | 9.45 | 16 |
Ahdut HaAvoda | 17,928 | 9.04 | 16 |
Mizrachi | 6,513 | 3.28 | 7 |
Yemenite Association | 5,019 | 2.53 | 4 |
Democratic Centre | 4,704 | 2.37 | 4 |
Women's International Zionist Organization | 4,314 | 2.17 | 4 |
Palestine Communist Party | 3,780 | 1.90 | 3 |
Maccabi | 3,718 | 1.87 | 3 |
HaOved HaTzioni | 3,685 | 1.86 | 3 |
Independent Religious List | 3,118 | 1.57 | 2 |
Merchants | 1,673 | 0.84 | 2 |
People's Movement for a Jewish State | 1,418 | 0.71 | 1 |
Mizrachi Women | 1,217 | 0.61 | 1 |
Yemenite Workers | 957 | 0.48 | 1 |
HaOved HaDati | 790 | 0.40 | 0 |
Discharged Soldiers and Families | 666 | 0.34 | 0 |
Oriental Religious Group | 543 | 0.27 | 1 |
Young Men of Aden | 264 | 0.13 | 0 |
Bnei HaYishuv | 240 | 0.12 | 0 |
National Workers Front | 118 | 0.06 | 0 |
Religious Women Workers | 30 | 0.02 | 1 |
Invalid/blank votes | 2,455 | – | – |
Total | 200,881 | 100 | 173 |
Source: Palestine Post |
Around 80% of the elected Assembly members supported the Biltmore Declaration, which demanded the creation of a "Jewish Commonwealth" after World War II.[2]
References
- 1 2 American Jewish Yearbook 1945-46 p460
- 1 2 Final Results of Palestine Elections Announced; Laborite Groups Form Majority Jewish Telegraph Agency, 10 August 1944