What if they held an election and no one voted?
“The quiet scenes at the polling stations spoke volumes,” NBC News reported (here). “Entrances at some of Hong Kong’s 630 voting sites were empty on Sunday as the Chinese territory held an election for its legislature in which none of the pro-democracy parties were represented.”
Beijing decreed only “patriots” could run. By their definition, a “patriot” isn’t someone who believes in people choosing their government. (N.B.: This excludes most Republicans in the U.S., too — Ed.)
“Many of the territory’s democratic politicians are now in prison or awaiting trial, while others are barred from running, resigned from politics or in self-exile overseas,” NBC News said.
This is what “elections” in a single-party authoritarian-ruled country look like. I mean, why bother to vote, if you can only vote for Republicans communists?