Evening star., 1948-05-30
tzeehs Voting Today
In Election Stacked
For Communist Party
RY the Assoeiofsd Press

" the Assoeiofsd Press
PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia, May
29.-Czechoslovakia's one ticket
election for parliament will be held
tomorrow. 1t is stacked before
hand in favor of the Communist
Party.
All that the balloting will decide
is how many people voted, how many
ballots we're cast for the national
unity ticket and how many people
had nerve enough to vote the white
(blank) ballot as protest against
the Communist dominated govern
ment which took control in Febru-
ary.
The hand-picked list Of parlia-
ment deputies can't lose. From this
list the Communists trade unions
will get 210 or more Of the 800 seats
in parliament.
The Social Democrats will get
another 26 seats but that party will
merge with the Communists in q
Workers Unity Party before another
month.
Persons Required to Vote.
In the last parliamentary elec-
ton IN 1946 the Communists won SO
per cent of the seats and the So
cial Democrats IA per cent.
The other candidates In tonor-
rows election are picked leaders
of the Catholic Peoples Party, the
Socialist Party. the Slovak Renais-
sance Party and the Slovak Free
dom Party. All of them are depu-
ties and government officials who
have given at least lip ,ervice to
the Communist regime.
Most of Czechoslovakia' 8,0O0.O0
voters are expected to cast ballots.
Men and women, 18 years old and
older. are required to vote if they
are able to stand up. Persons who
fail to go to the polls are subject
to a fine of from 20 crowns 40
cents to 10000 crowns ($400). Per-
sons over - may pe excused from
the penalty.
Secrecy Seems Unlikely.
The polls will open from a m.
to 4 pm. Election officials may con-
test the vote OF any one they think
has betrayed the republic. The
casting of blank ballot is be-
trayal of the republic, according to
the new standards.
(Nine members of the Czecho-
slovak Embassy in London re-
signed Saturday in protest
against the manner in which the
election in their homeland will
be conducted, an Embassy
spokesman said. 1t was UNDER
stood that those resigning in
cluded the military and air
attache, Gen. Jan Plass, and his
Deputy
Secrecy has been promised in the
balloting. But this is the way the
voting will be conducted:
Each voter will be given one ma
tional ticket, with q single list of
candidates printed on both sides,
end one blank ballot with huge
X marked on one side. He must
vote one ballot, secretly If he wishes,
and discard the other.
open bdSket IOT DlSCdTuS.
The discarded ballot must be
placed in an open basket and there
is doubt among the voters as to
whether the basket will be shielded
by a screen
Persons who guardedly criticize
the government said 1t would be
brave man or woman who would
thrown his printed national ticket
in the basket in view Of the polling
place judges.
1t. Frantisek Ourednicek, an Of
ficer on the inactive list of the
Czech army, has been convicted by
court martial for agitating in favor
of a blank ballot protest vote in
tomorrowis elections.
He was sentenced to two months
in prison and reduced to a private.
Since February 81 when President
Eduard Benes swore in Premier
Klement Gottwald's cabinet the
Communist t-dominated regime has
split large land holdings, national
lied 80 per cent of the country's
industry and adopted a constitution
which proclaims Czechoslovakia a
peoples democracy in the Slav
brotherhood.
1t was disclosed today that Mr..
Benes has not signed the constitu-
tion. He has until June to put
his name on the document which
was adopted unanimously by
purged parliament May 9.
There has been speculation that
Mr.. Benes may not continue in Office
after the election.