President Ngo Dinh Diem casting his vote (4 March 1956)
Constitutional Assembly elections were held in South Vietnam on 4 March 1956.[1] A total of 431 candidates contested the 123 seats from all five registered pro-government political parties, with 11 elected as pro-government independents. Edward Miller notes that the election was relatively free and fair in comparison to 1955 State of Vietnam referendum, as independent and opposition candidates were allowed to contest the seats, and opposition campaigns were allowed. However, campaign materials had to be screened, and the government was allowed to suspend candidates on the basis of their links with Viet Minh and other rebel groups.[2] Two deputies were not permitted to take seats due to electoral violations, making the total number of deputies seated at 121.[3] On 26 October the body was transformed into the National Assembly after the new constitution came into effect.[3]
The 123 members of the Constitutional Assembly were elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. Candidates were not required to be residents of the constituencies in which they ran. Most constituencies were roughly equal in population, although Saigon was only allotted seven seats (6% of the total) despite being home to about 14% of the national population.[4]
^Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p331 ISBN0-19-924959-8
^Miller, Edward (2013). Misalliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam. Boston: Harvard University Press. pp. 144–145. ISBN978-0-674-07298-5.
^Scigliano, Robert G. “The Electoral Process in South Vietnam: Politics in an Underdeveloped State.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 4, no. 2 (1960): 138–61. https://doi.org/10.2307/2108705.
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