Constituent Assembly elections were held in Bahrain on 1 December 1972. All candidates ran as independents. A total of 15,385 votes were cast (although not all constituencies were contested), giving a turnout of 88.5%. However, only 12.5% of the population were registered voters at the time. The constituent assembly was charged with drafting and ratifying a constitution, following Bahrain's independence from Britain in 1971. The law drawn up by the government restricted the electorate to male citizens aged twenty years or over.