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March 17, 1991: 35 years ago today, the Soviet people voted to preserve the USSR.

The referendum held on March 17, 1991, stated: "Do you consider necessary the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics in which the rights and freedom of an individual of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?"

In defiance of the counter-revolutionaries who had seized the governing apparatus and the leadership of the CPSU, an overwhelming majority of Soviet citizens IN EVERY REPUBLIC voted "Yes." The only exception was in a few republics where the "democrats" in power did not allow the vote to take place. Elsewhere there was 80 percent voter turnout.

For: 113,512,812 - 77.8%

Against: 32,303,977 - 22.2%

Despite the vote, the U.S.-backed Gorbachev-Yeltsin leadership illegally dissolved the USSR on December 26, 1991.

Full figures here:

Soviet carpet celebrating Fidel Castro, seemingly produced in Turkmenistan in the late 1970s or early 1980s.