Hitler hoped that the Reichstag elections would prove that the German people stood firmly behind him and the NSDAP. Although Hitler employed arbitrary tactics to suppress his political opponents—especially the Communists and the Social Democrats—and although these tactics clearly revealed the dictatorial character of his new regime, the Reichstag elections were supposed to give outside observers the impression that his regime enjoyed democratic legitimacy. Below is a ballot for the Reichstag election in the Hesse-Darmstadt electoral district. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party tops the ballot. Next comes the Social Democratic Party (2), followed by the Communist Party (3), the German Center Party (4), Battlefront Black-White-Red (5), the German People’s Party (7), the Christian Social People’s Service (8), the German State Party (9), and the German Farmers’ Party (10).