1990 East German general election

The Volkskammer election of March 18, 1990 was the only truly democratic vote East Germany ever held, and the first free one in the region since 1932. Turnout reached 93.4 percent. It is unique on this list because the founding election also ended the state. The CDU-led Alliance for Germany won 192 of 400 seats on a promise of swift reunification, and voters got exactly that: on October 3, 1990 the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist and joined the Federal Republic. For anyone studying transitions, it is the clearest case of a first free vote used as a referendum on whether the country should continue at all.