The 1924 Special Election took place on the 29th of December, 1924, in Distric X (Moraviskameja) upon the assassination of Senator Ivana Simuna. It was won by independent Adin Vedran.
In retaliation, Kresimir Basic of Decelska (District IX) and fellow hardline senators formed the Sons of Kresimir, a pro-Kresimirian nationalist group.
Constitutional Crisis
The 1921 Kresimirian constitution provided a directive of actions to follow if a Senator resigned or died during their term. The passage read:
If a sitting Senator dies, or places a voluntary resignation while in office ... The next in line for the Assembly seat is the candidate in the previous election who placed in third place – they are contacted posthaste and asked if they are still willing to take the seat. If so, this candidate becomes a Senator once they have pledged in front of the Assembly. If not, this process continues down the list of potential candidates. If none of the candidates are still resident and willing, a new election is held in that district only. This will be announced and held in no less than twenty one days. This Senator will not serve their term for a total of ten years, instead they will serve the remaining years upon the death of the previous Senator, whereby the elections will be held as normal simultaneously with the other Senators.
In line with this policy, the candidate who placed third place in the 1922 election in Moraviskameja, Karlo Horvatic, was sought after by Kresimirian Internal Affairs officers. The Kresimirians encountered problems within the city of Brod Moravice, where they found mass anti-cooperation movements and ethnic Boscovian citizens who refused to speak to soldiers or officers.
Chair of the Assembly Filip Novak proposed a solution; a constitutional amendment to remove the requirement to contact the failed candidates of the previous year’s election, to instead simply hold an election regardless, and temporarily suspend the stipulation of twenty-one days, but re-instate that section on the 1st of January 1925. This constitutional amendment was passed by an emergency Assembly session with a vote of 18-1 (Josipa Vukel being the sole vote against.)
Violence Surrounding the Election
As preparations were being made for the elections, Kresimirian soldiers were placed strategically and liberally around the city to ensure free and fair elections. Despite this, riots were common, and several soldiers and citizens were killed in brawls over the month between the assasination and the election. Due to this, Novak encouraged the election to be fast-tracked, and the Council for Internal Affairs set a final election date for the 29th of December 1924. Despite the election being, in principle, free and fair, around one hundred ethnic Kresimirians who attended a pro-RPP rally were killed by groups of masked BSC-21 members. Thirteen Boscovian citizens were shot by a Kresimirian soldier when they charged a cavalry patrol on the 18th of December, but the soldier was later acquitted at trial. No RPP candidates ran for election in the end. The sole candidate associated with a party was Emil Kraljevic, a Kresimirian nationalist living in Brod Moravice, who ran under the Sons of Kresimir party affiliation, but whose body was found in the Brod river the day before the election, in what was widely believed to be a BRC-21 operation.
Resulting Assembly Makeup
Newly elected Senators are highlighted in bold. If a Senator changed their party affiliation from the previous election, their party will be highlighted in bold.
| District | Senator | Party | First Elected |
|---|---|---|---|
| I (Sinj) | Ana Kovacevic | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| I (Sinj) | Filip Novak | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| II (Kakerovecska) | Mil Vucic | - | 1922 |
| II (Kakerovecska) | Luka Matar | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| III (Pologradska) | Eward Matek | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| III (Pologradska) | Marija Sarislav | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| IV (Severnivaraje) | Antonio Iric | Bistrice People's Party | 1922 |
| IV (Severnivaraje) | Sara Unalina | - | 1922 |
| V (Moskiprovac) | Nika Radman | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| V (Moskiprovac) | Dora Martinovic | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| VI (Viskogorje) | Leon Rukavin | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| VI (Viskogorje) | Dominik Loncar | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| VII (Ravna Skrad) | Davor Banit | Sons of Kresimir | 1922 |
| VII (Ravna Skrad) | Matej Marij Mihaljevic | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| VIII (Zahodecelska) | Rod Blakojevic | Sons of Kresimir | 1922 |
| VIII (Zahodecelska) | Marin Lurcic Grubisic | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| IX (Decelska) | Ivan Franj | Revolutionary People's Party | 1922 |
| IX (Decelska) | Kresimir Basic | Sons of Kresimir | 1922 |
| X (Moraviskameja) | Adin Vedran | None - (Affiliated with BRC-21) | 1924 |
| X (Moraviskameja) | Josipa Vukel | None - (Affiliated with BRC-21) | 1922 |
Breakdown By District
The Special Election resulted in the election of Adin Vedran.
District X (Moraviskameja)
| Name | Party | Vote Share | Change | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adin Vedran | - | 66.4% | - | ✓ |
| Miroslav Kvesic | - | 14.2% | - | |
| Marko Zganec | - | 1.2% | - | |
| Emil Kraljevic (Dead) | SoK | 0.3% | - |