Building facade in Leipzig

OBJECT INFORMATION

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May 7 1989
Leipzig, Markt
Created By: Roland Quester, Quelle: BStU

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Demonstration against the single ticket voting system, Leipzig, May 7 1989

Building facade in Leipzig, taken on the day of the communal elections in 1989, at which candidates of the National Front (an alliance of political parties and mass organisations in East Germany controlled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany) received 98.85 of the votes at an official voter-turnout of 98.78, thereby achieving the worst electoral results in the history of the GDR. For the first time, citizens throughout East Germany were determined to prove the authorities guilty of electoral fraud. After polling booths closed, groups of voters participated in a public count and in almost every case it could be proven that the authorities were indeed guilty of electoral fraud. On the evening of the election, the first scattered demonstrations already began appearing in various cities. 72 protesters were arrested in Leipzig. (cf. Lindner, Bernd: Die demokratische Revolution in der DDR 1989/90. Bonn 1998, S. 25ff)