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The Election. Sunday's German election was ordered by Realmleader Hitler officially to choose a new Reichstag. Actually it was designed to be a demonstration before the world of Germany's approval of three vastly important steps der Führer has taken since his people last voted:
1) Inflation of the German Army to nearly 550,000 men, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles (TIME, June 3).
2) Germany's private naval agreement with Britain (TIME, June 24).
3) Germany's remilitarization of the Rhineland.
There was nothing free about the election. Voters could not even choose names from the long list of hand-picked Nazi candidates for the Reichstag posted inconspicuously in the polling places. They could only write Ja or put an X in a circle, voting full confidence in Adolf Hitler. To be sure they did this bright & early, brass bands were tooting in the streets and Nazi children banging on dishpans at daybreak.
With Sunday's sunset came the results: 44,952,937 votes had been cast. Out of every 100 eligible Germans 99 had voted for Hitler, a world's record in national unity. To reach this figure, pollwatchers had counted not only the ballots marked Ja or X, but almost all the ballots that weaselers had left blank. Foreign correspondents were more interested in the 543,026 Germans so opposed to Adolf Hitler that they risked their necks by definitely defacing their ballots.
French politicians were more impressed by an obvious fact. Discounting all questionable ballots, more thoroughly honest votes for Adolf Hitler had been cast in Germany last week than there are men, women & children in all France.