East German constitutional referendum, 1968

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A constitutional referendum was held in East Germany on 6 April 1968. [1] The new constitution was approved by 96.4% of voters, with turnout reported to be 98.1%, [2] and came into force on 9 April. [3]

East Germany former communist country, 1949-1990

East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic, was a country that existed from 1949 to 1990, when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. It described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state", and the territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II — the Soviet Occupation Zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it; as a result, West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR.

Constitution of East Germany

The German Democratic Republic was founded in 1949 and was absorbed into the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990. Its original constitution was promulgated on 7 October 1949. It was heavily based on the "Weimarer Reichsverfassung", such that the GDR would be a federal and democratic republic. Because the original version did not accurately reflect the actual political climate of the GDR, it was decided in 1968 to replace the old constitution with a new version.

Contents

Background

On 1 December 1967 the Volkskammer established a commission to draw up a new constitution. This was by the Volkskammer with no dissenting votes on 26 March 1968, alongside a law on conducting a referendum to approve the constitution. [3]

Volkskammer parliament

The Volkskammer was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic.

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For11,536,80396.4
Against409,7333.4
Invalid/blank votes24,353
Total11,970,889100
Registered voters/turnout12,208,98698.1
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p770
  3. 1 2 German Democratic Republic, 6 April 1968: Constitution Direct Democracy (in German)