EAST GERMAN LOCAL ELECTIONS OF 17 SEPTEMBER 1961

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79S00427A000500020004-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 23, 2004
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: August 21, 1961
• Content Type: IM

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
21 August 1961
OCI No. 3619/61 Copy No.
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: East German Local Elections of 17 September
1961
1. Offices:_to.:'be'filled: Local elections in
East Germany have been scheduled for 17 September,
the same day as the West German parliamentary elec-
tions. According to an ordinance published on 8
July by the East German Council of State, a total of
212,000 representatives will be elected to district,
county, municipal, city borough, and communal assemT.
blies throughout East Germany. These popularly
elected bodies will in turn elect local governing
councils.
2. Party participation: All political parties
and mass organizations will`lparticipate in activities
prior to the election, which will be supervised by
the National Front of Democratic Germany. In pracz.
tice, the local Socialist Unity party (SED) leader-
ship designates candidates, and the National Front
Committee in the electoral district formalizes this
action. Each mass organization in the National
Front (the Free German Trade Union Federation, Free
German Youth, Culture League, and the Society for
Sports and Technology, among others) will be repre
sented on the ballot, as well as.tbe SED and the
Communist-controlled parties--the 'Christian Democrat-
iC. Union, the Liberal Democratic party, the National
Democratic party, and the Democratic Peasant Party.
The SED usually is allotted 30 percent of the candi-
dates and the other parties 10 percent each, while
the remaining 30 percent is assigned to the mass
organizations, which in effect means to SED members
representing these organizations.
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3. Procedures: On 6 July, the East German
State Council adopted the following ordinances:
as In accordance with the law of 3 April
1957 concerning election to local people's assem-
blies in the German Democratic Republic, local
government elections are proclaimed for 1961.
b. The elections are to be implemented on
the basis of the law of 3 April 1957 and the law
adopted 6 July 1961 concerning changes in the
former law.
c. Minister of the Interior Karl Maron
will be the officer in charge of the elections.
SED politburo member Albert Norden said in
an address to the 13th plenum of the SED central
committee on 11 July that the movement for the ful-
fillment of the economic tasks and for the conclusion
of a peace treaty will be in the center of the prep-
aratiOnn. for the elections.
Other major objectives of the intensive
election campaign are to bring East German citi-
zens into closer contact with local administrative
government and to generate some feeling of Identi-
fication with the regime and its policies, espe-
cially the conclusion of a peace treaty. Efforts in
this latter directions., so far this summer have
shown a notable lack of success. The West German
elections set for the same day also provide a com-
pelling reason for the regime to make its own show
of "democracy" and to obtain an overwhelming en-
dorsement from the East German people.
4. Significant features:
a. The last local elections were held on
23 June 1957, the first in seven years. Of those
eligible to vote, 97.17 percent did so, with
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National Front candidates receiving 99,52 percent
of the vote. The regime took stringent measures to
prevent any disturbances during the election period
and placed all military and security forces on full
alert.
b. According to the present electoral law,
local elections were due four years after the last
elections of June 1957, The postponement of the
elections probably was due to the food and con-
sumer goods shortages. and the incipient crisis
over Berlin. Despite extensive b fo ts.by:itbe
regime.': to whip up enthusiasm, few people are
taking the present election campaign (which is not
yet in full swing) seriously because of the absence
of genuine political debate. The single election
list of party-approved candidates will give the
voter no opportunity to express a choice, and every-
one realizes that the outcome is already determined.
c. One of the significant aspects of the
current election campaign is the obvious effort of
regime propagandizers to elicit complaints from the
general public and impose "self-criticism" on local
functionaries, thereby spotlighting inefficient and
unpopular officials who can be dismissed as a sop
to the populace. The regime obviously is attempt-
ing to avoid its responsibility for the inadequate
supplies of food and consumer goods and for the
harsh enforcement of its directives by placing the
blame on local officials
25X1
Acting Assistant Director
Current Intelligence
25X1
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