Thirty-four years ago today, on March 17, 1991 (February 2, 1991), the Soviet Union held a referendum in which 76.4% of 80% of the voters were in favor of retaining the Union. On March 17, 1991, the Soviet Union held a referendum on whether to retain the Union. This was the first referendum in Soviet history. At that time, there were 184 million registered voters in the country, of which 147 million voted and 76% were in favor of retaining the Union.