The single question citizens of the USSR were asked to consider: “Do you believe it is necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of sovereign republics with equal rights, where the rights and freedoms of people of all nationalities will be fully guaranteed?” It was not clear what the legal and practical consequences would be, or even what the question meant, since, with the exception of the words “renewed federation,” it said the same thing as the existing Soviet constitution. Really, it was not so much a referendum as an opinion poll, with one
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