9 out of 15 republics took part in the referendum, while 6 republics — Lithuanian, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, and Moldavia — did not take participate, having held earlier separate referendums on cession. However, even in those republics, the All-Union referendum took place at the local level.

The definitive majority of the citizens of the USSR voted for the preservation of the Union!

We translated a documentary, found at the YouTube channel “We Are from the USSR”. It is based on several materials: news programs from that time, as well as fragments of a documentary “The Chronicles of Our Time #7. The First All-Union Referendum of 1991”.

Backup at Rumble.

The material is also presented at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

Here is a portion of the transcript, where the results are presented:

In total, 184.2 million people were included in the list for voting at the referendum.
147.5 million people participated in the vote.
112.1 million Soviet citizens said “yes” to the Union.
This is 76.3% of all those who participated in the referendum.
2.7 million ballots were recognised as invalid.

Here’s what significant:
While this data came in its entirety from 9 republics in which the referendum was held and the Central Commission of the referendum was created, then in 6 republics the Central Commission was not created.
Here the vote was held at the labour collectives, at a number of councils, and so on.

What is the ratio of these results relative to the entire electoral body?
If this data are compared with the total number of voters in the past All-Union elections, and then there were 192 million people in the lists, then 58.3% of the citizens voted for the Union on this scale.

More than half, anyway.

The documentary ends with an open question about the implications of the referendum:
Did it solve the conflicts that had arisen? Or only gave birth to new illusions? The future will tell.

The future is happening now, but not the way people voted back then, as the will of the people of the USSR was ignored and the Union destroyed through several manipulative steps.

The transcript of the documentary

More and more people say “yes” to the referendum, “yes” to the Union.
That way they are betting on unity, stability,
economic power, on the international authority of the state,
on the preservation and renewal of the Union.
There will be a referendum now. What will you vote for?
I personally believe that everyone should vote for the Union.
The same. The Union should remain the Union.
There should be a Union, because it is a power, a single fist, when everything is together.
And if there is a conflict between the republics, then, as they say, we will all be weak.
Bashkiria
More than 70,000 people work in our team today, 50 nationalities.
Thus, the oil industry binds not only economic, but sometimes also blood ties.
Therefore, I, like many oil workers of Bashkiria, have made a clear choice for myself.
I will vote for our united home,
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is what I call my compatriots and oil workers.
Do you think the consequences of the disintegration
of the country and the state are taken into account?
You know, in my opinion, the political passions are so high-tensed in our country,
that the opposing parties
have not been listening to each other’s arguments for a long time.
As a result, for example, one side does not take into account that
for the division it will be necessary to pay a fairly high economic price.
We will lose the potential benefits of a large economic space,
while many republics may simply become economically insolvent
will not find their niche in the world economy.
Or another problem: the problem of inter-republican borders.
Some do not at all take into account that the problem may become explosive.
Because when these borders were symbolic,
no one paid much attention to the fact that they were created arbitrarily.
Today, at the monument of friendship, where the borders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine converge,
a rally of representatives of labour collectives, intelligentsia, servicemen,
veterans of war and labour of the three fraternal republics took place.
Thousands of people from the Bryansk, Chernigov and Gomel regions
gathered to express their attitude to the referendum.
Participants of the rally addressed the people of the Soviet Union,
in which they called for the preservation of reason and calm,
not to succumb to emotions
and the manipulations of those who are trying to break the Union.
In Ryazan, the participants of the rally, dedicated to the upcoming all-Union referendum
spoke today in favour of the preservation of the Soviet Union.
About 20,000 residents of the city gathered at call of the labour collectives.
Orators condemned the forces calling for the split of the country.
The Chronicles of Our Days
The First All-Union Referendum
Have you ever thought about the nationality
of the unknown soldier, buried by the Kremlin wall?
What is a union?
A prison of peoples, as it is fashionable to say now,
or, after all, our common homeland?
How do you see the new Union?
How? The fact is that without the Union…
I have 13 nephews, 4 brothers died. Do you understand this?
Yes, of course.
It is already clear to you what is in my soul.
That’s why… [Children of] my nephew are married to
the Tatars, married to Bashkirs, getting married too.
But what are we going to do without it?
Do you understand? Of course.
In politics… I don’t want to say that Yeltsin is bad, but…
there is something that he wants that is not right.
Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding, I don’t understand him, I can’t understand.
I can’t understand.
No, no.
He wants the right thing, you understand, but they don’t allow him to do much.
Then why does he speak like that?
Why did he speak so sharply, critically?
Clever people don’t speak like that.
Why did he shout like that?
That: “I don’t want communists. Communists need to be strangled.”
Communists are also people.
Intolerance in our country often ends in blood.
And crushing without mercy the old illusions and stereotypes,
we often destroy the common sense of transformation.
It is impossible for us to be apart.
Only unity can we be victorious and achieve success.
That’s why I think: only “yes!” [to the Union].
That’s why it is so important to solve conflicts in a constitutional way,
so that every person in the country has the opportunity to express their opinion.
How did you answer the question of Yeltsin, yes or no?
Yes, because if there is no Union,
says Aksakal from the Turkmen village,
there will be no connection between the peoples, the economy will collapse.
Friendship, brotherhood between the republics is necessary.
Unlike Turkmenistan, Estonia did not participate in the all-Union referendum.
However, they did not prevent holding the referendum
in the collectives of enterprises, where people spoke for its necessity.
These people came here because they are worried about
how their life will turn out outside the Union.
I think the question has now become unavoidable: will the Union exist or not.
I am in favour of the Union.
Russians, but isn’t it all the same, as long as people live and the Union would exist.
so as not to separate, to trade and still have friendship.
A little more than 500,000 people in Lithuania took part in the vote on March 17.
Officially, Lithuania, like Estonia, refused to participate in the all-Union referendum.
Excuse me, what will you vote for? For the Soviet Union?
Yes, yes, of course.
9 republics out of 15 gave their consent to participate in the all-Union referendum.
And the question to vote was:
“Do you think it is necessary to preserve the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics
as a renewed federation of equal, sovereign republics,
in which the rights and freedoms of people of any nationality will be fully guaranteed.”
“We have lived for so many years in unity, in the Union,” says this Kyrgyz woman.
“As a mother, I want that we continue to live in harmony in the future.”
If we leave the Union, it will be difficult for us.
We have lived in the Union for so many years, and we will continue to live.
Our people have a saying: a lone man is the prey of a wolf.
Along with the All-Union referendum, some republics
also held the republican referendums, city polls.
For example, the Muscovites discussed the need to introduce the post of mayor.
Excuse me, how did you vote? For the Union or against?
– Yes, yes, for the Union. – Why?
Because I think there’s necessity for it now.
Excuse me, for what did you vote for? It’s an interview.
For the Soviet power.
For what we lived for these past 73 years.
– For the Union? – How else?
Do you think Russia needs a president or not?
I think that Russia should be a strong country,
as the Soviet Union was in 1941.
My father died.
My brother died.
And I worked during the war, both in a factory and in a hospital.
Both Soviet and foreign journalists have many questions about the fate of the Union.
Will there be a union, Mikhail Gorbachev?
I am convinced of it.
Convinced.
And what kind of union?
One has to be a completely ignorant person,
or at least irresponsible, in order to adhere to a different opinion.
The preservation of the Union is needed by us, people living in this huge country.
And I think it is necessary for all of you,
and for those countries which you represent here,
because a lot is connected with the activities of this great country.
The other thing is that a Union is needed,
We must abandon Unitarianism, come to an updated federation.
How do you feel about the post of the President of Russia?
Personally, opinion, in many ways, is very much
based on the published draft of the Russian Constitution.
If the Presidency of Russia is conceived in this way, then,
I think, it brings great danger with it.
In fact, if we call for such a concept of presidential governance
in the Russian Federation, as it is laid down in the draft of the public Constitution,
then there can be no talk of any Union of Sovereign State,
of a union state, of its preservation.
Therefore, this is a question that, I think,
will still be a subject of serious discussion of the Russians themselves,
of the Supreme and especially of the Congress of People’s Deputies.
This process is very important.
I am not trying to justify myself.
At the Congress, I will lead an offensive policy and a constructive one.
This is the most important thing.
Yes, there were some mistakes that need to be self-critically mentioned.
But the most important thing is: what to do,
how to do it, and to lay out a clear program.
This, economic program is now the development,
the stabilisation of the economy and the transition to the market is done.
When will you again find an accord with Gorbachev?
Or is your break-up now eternal?
You can’t think so.
After all, this is not a disagreement between Gorbachev and Yeltsin, or Yeltsin and Gorbachev.
This is a disagreement between two policies.
I am sure that we are moving towards the Union, the renewed one.
And the project of the new Union Treaty, which was published
and which is the fruit of the collective efforts of the representatives of the Republic,
leads to the correct rational distribution of the functions of the Centre of the Republic.
And as you have noticed, in this project, defence, armed forces, energy, etc.:
they are all the competence of the Union State.
Therefore, there is no talk of division of nuclear forces and generally armed forces.
While there is [such provision] the project of the Constitution of the Russian Federation,
in connection with the introduction of the Presidential Administration.
Hello, hello.
Have you already voted or not?
– Have you voted for the Union or against it? – Yes.
– And for the Presidential Administration? – Yes.
– And for or against mayor? – Yes.
Tell me, please, just one question for the TV.
What will be the result in the Union at this referendum?
I think, positive.
Who will win, Gorbachev or Yeltsin?
So far, there is no such competition.
I will vote for the Union.
Excuse me, may I ask a question?
What did you vote for?
For the Union?
For the Union, because I grew up in the Union and lived in the Union all my life.
Therefore, I believe that one of the most important
forms of governance is the Union governance.
I cannot see for myself a unity,
that is, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics as not a union.
I just can’t think otherwise.
I voted for the Union of all 15.
Why?
Because our strength will be in their strength.
Deputy Chairman of the Central Commission, Golovkov,
tells about the results of the referendum.
So, our country, the Soviet people, experienced
for the first time in its history such a major political action as a referendum,
as a survey of the people on the core issue
of our life, whether there will be an updated Union.
And today we can already talk about the results of the work carried out.
More than 185 million Soviet people took part in the referendum.
They were included in the lists as, let’s call them, voters.
And of this figure, of this number,
exactly 80% of the population took part in the referendum.
Of them, 76.4% spoke in favour of the Union, that is, they said “yes”.
At the morning and day sessions, the deputies of the Union Parliament
discussed and adopted a resolution on the results of the referendum held in the country.
Anatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov, the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR,
comments on it for the “Vremya” program.
For the first time, such a democratic instrument
was used by the country to express public opinion.
In general, it uncovered
the complete and unequivocal will of the majority of the people
on such an important issue of life, a historical issue of the life of the country,
as a preservation of the renewed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
as a renewed federation of equal and sovereign republics,
where every citizen will use the entire scope of their rights, their freedoms, their powers.
And I must say that the majority of the people,
the majority of those who participated in the referendum,
supported the Union, the preservation of the Union.
This is the main conclusion and a very important conclusion, because…
it should be taken into account that this referendum was held in a very difficult time,
a time of great social tension.
And in this situation, the people,
the majority of the citizens of the USSR, spoke unambiguously.
This is extremely important.
It is also important that now, those who like talking on behalf of the people in general,
will have a harder time.
The will of the majority of the population is clear.
And now we must adhere to this will, carry it out, implement it.
In addition, it seems to me, and this is also important,
that not only the idea of preserving the Union is supported,
not only our renewed federation is supported,
but also the line that was carried out by the leadership of the country is supported.
Of course, there were forces that wanted to tie the results of the referendum
to one or another personality, to one or another policy.
And, let’s say, not altruistically.
In principle, the line that the Congress of People’s Deputies expressed is supported.
You probably remember that at the Congress,
1,700 deputies spoke for this formula and for bringing this issue to the referendum.
And only 20 people were against.
Moreover, it must be said that both this line and the line of the Supreme Soviet are supported.
And finally, it seems to me that it is extremely important
that an answer is also given in the international context.
That now, before the face of the whole world, there stands a powerful state,
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and not of small principalities.
That in international relations, the same, albeit renewed policy will continue to be carried out.
Could you reinforce this assessment with specific data on the results?
Specific data.
Here are specific data on the results of the referendum.
In total, 184.2 million people were included in the list for voting at the referendum.
147.5 million people participated in the vote.
Those voting for the Union,
those who said “yes” to the Union,
are 112.1 million Soviet citizens.
This is 76.3% of all those who participated in the referendum.
76.3%
2.7 million ballots were recognised as invalid.
Here’s what significant:
While this data came in its entirety from 9 republics
where the referendum was held, and
where the Central Commissions of the referendum were created,
then in 6 republics the Central Commissions were not created.
There, the vote was held at the labour collectives,
at a number of councils, and so on.
And here some may say that, no…
What is the ratio of these results relative to the entire electoral body?
To the entire population of the Union?
To all the voters of the Union.
If this data are compared with the total number of voters
in the past All-Union elections,
and then there were 192 million people in the lists,
then 58.3% of the citizens voted for the Union on this scale.
– More than half, anyway. – Yes.
And I, taking advantage of this opportunity,
want to thank each and every Soviet person who took part in the vote,
in the referendum, and who said “yes”
to the preservation of our Union and its renewal.
What did the referendum give?
Did it solve the conflicts that had arisen?
Or only gave birth to new illusions?
The future will tell.