pseudoelection

plural pseudoelections · alternative pseudo-election

1. governmentA sham election; an election organized without any significant political choice or real impact on the results, often held in dictatorial regimes to feign the appearance of public legitimacy.

   As Wiseman notes, many observers saw Jammeh's maneuvers as a test run for the plans of Nigerian military dictator Sani Abacha to legitimize his own dictatorship through a pseudoelection.

   1999, “Introduction”, in Larry Jay Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, editors, Democratization in Africa, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page xxii