I’ve read that in Nazi Germany, sporadic “elections” were held, featuring the above slogan prominently displayed on a banner.
I’m not absolutely sure that this is correct–with the exception of this Wikipedia article, I can’t find definitive evidence that any elections, even fake ones, were held in Nazi Germany. (Although fake elections were certainly held in the Soviet Union.)
But as a thought experiment–imagine that when you go to vote today, there was a big sign with the words “Patriotic Americans are proud to show how they vote”…and that 95% of the people were voting out in the open, at a long table where everyone could see which candidates they had chosen. Wouldn’t you feel a bit intimidated? Especially if you lived in a community, or worked in a professional environment, where your views were distinctly in the minority? I certainly think that many people–perhaps most–would feel at least somewhat intimidated in such circumstances. Even if there were no apparatus of State repression in place. Even if there were a few voting booths provided for those who absolutely insisted on voting in private–with the knowledge, of course, that their identities could be easily observed.
This is, in essence, the evironment that the Democratic leadership wants to create for workers.