Before 1989, however, as in other Communist states, its function was largely confined to rubber-stamping measures placed before it by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). Czechoslovak Laws passed under Communism were drafted in advance by the Presidium of the KSČ and presented to the Federal Assembly, which almost always approved them unanimously. The democratic centralist principle extended to elections as well. Voters were presented with a single list from the National Front ("Národní fronta"), an all-encompassing patriotic organization dominated by the Communists. Great pressure was brought to bear on citizens to turn out at the polls, and those who dared to cross out the name of the single Front-approved candidate on the ballot risked severe reprisals. Under these circumstances, elections were almost always a formality, with the Front list winning well over 99 percent of the vote.