1936 German parliamentary election and referendum

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany on 29 March 1936. They took the form of a single-question referendum, asking voters whether they approved of the military occupation of the Rhineland and a single party list for the new Reichstag composed exclusively of Nazis and 19 nominally independent "guests" of the party. The election was effectively rigged, with no political opponents of Hitler allowed to participate with a claimed turnout of 99% and 98.8% voting in favour. In a publicity stunt, a number of voters were packed aboard the airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg, which flew above the Rhineland as those aboard cast their ballots. Despite the electoral irregularities, historian Ian Kershaw writes that the vote nonetheless accurately reflected widespread popular support for Hitler following the remilitarization of the Rhineland.

This was the first German election held after enactment of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, which had removed citizenship rights (including the right to vote) from Jews and other ethnic minorities. In the previous elections and referendums under Nazi rule, Jews, Poles and other ethnic minorities had been allowed to vote without much interference, and even tacitly encouraged to vote against the Nazis (especially in districts that were known to have large populations of ethnic minorities). On 7 March 1936, Jews and Romani lost their right to vote.

This also was the first election since the Saar was incorporated into Germany on 1 March 1935, following the Saar plebiscite of 13 January 1935. The new territory was merged with electoral constituency 27, Palatinate, which was now renamed Palatinate–Saar.