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Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January and just six days after the Reichstag fire.The election saw Nazi stormtroopers unleash a widespread campaign of violence against the Communist Party (KPD), left-wingers, [1]: 317 trade unionists, the Social Democratic Party [1] and the Centre Party.
This election set the tone for all further elections and referendums held in the Nazi era. Official results showed 92 percent of the voters approved the Nazi list, on a turnout of 96 percent. The vote was held in far-from secret circumstances; many voters feared that anyone who voted "no" would be detected and punished for doing so.
The Nazi Party emerged as the largest party, receiving 50% of the vote and winning 38 of the 72 seats in the Volkstag, the first time any party had won a majority of seats in the legislature. [1] Voter turnout was 92%. [2] The elections were held under violent circumstances, with the Nazis attacking the electoral events of the opposition.
5 March – German federal election, March 1933: National Socialists gain 43.9% of the votes. 8 March – Nazis occupy the Bavarian State Parliament and expel deputies. 12 March – Hindenburg bans the flag of the republic and orders the Imperial and Nazi flag to fly side by side.
Since German elections always took place on Sundays, the vote was held one day after the anniversary. Of the democratic nature of the referendum, the political scientist Arnold Zurcher writes that "there undoubtedly was a great deal" of "intangible official pressure" but probably very little "downright coercion and intimidation at the polls". [17]
Germany's parliamentary election on Feb. 23 will be the first under new rules designed to cut the size of a parliament that had grown too unwieldy, but they also make vote outcomes harder to forecast.
The Communists were excluded from the Reichstag. At the March 1933 elections, again no single party secured a majority. Hitler required the vote of the Centre Party and Conservatives in the Reichstag to obtain the powers he desired. He called on Reichstag members to vote for the Enabling Act on 23 March 1933.
16. "The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” John F. Kennedy, Former U.S. President. 17. “Voting is not only our right—it is our power.”