First, Hitler had already come to power (appointed Chancellor 30th January 1933). The Nazis came out of both elections of 1932 as the biggest party in the Reichstag (the German parliament), holding about 1/3 of the seats at the start of 1933. Hitler's appointment as Chancellor was followed by two elections in 1933. The first of these was in March, and was a genuine multi-party election. However, there was widespread intimidation by the SA and the SS (and other right-wing groups such as Der Stahlhelm). Despite the use of threats and violence, the Nazis still only gained 44% of the seats in the Reichstag, a minority in need of coalition partners (which they had, just enough to reach a majority as a coalition). Armed with these allies, the Nazis passed the Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz), which gave cabinet the power to pass laws without the Reichstag, and to override the constitution. Essentially, by the end of March, Hitler had dictatorial powers (more precisely, cabinet had dictatorial powers, but since cabinet was run by Hitler, those powers were wielded by Hitler).

The Nazis promptly banned opposition parties, and the 92% election, held in November, was not a multi-party election. The Nazis presented a list of candidates for the Reichstag (639 Nazis and 22 non-party Nazi supporters). The only choice for voters was to approve the list in its entirely, or reject it. Similar to the March election, there was extensive intimidation, but with the Nazis firmly in power, there was even less to restrain their use of threats and violence to influence the election result. Further, voting was not secret, so voting "no" was much more dangerous than in March. Voters were also threatened with retaliation if they failed to vote.

Thus, the 92% vote was in no way representative of the level of support for Hitler or the Nazis. 8% of those who voted took a risk to express their disapproval.