Election results showing one hundred pc victory are rare in modern democratic systems. However, history records that several world leaders “won” elections and not using a single dissenting vote.
They include Kim Jong-un of North Korea and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. They are symbols of how elections can turn from a celebration of democracy into an illustration of absolute power.
Elections in North Korea
In the 2014 North Korean parliamentary elections, Kim Jong-un was elected with 100% of the votes. There were no abstentions or rejection votes. Elections were held to elect members of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body.
In North Korea’s political system, voting is compulsory for all residents except those living abroad. The country is split into roughly 700 electoral districts, each of which is represented by just one candidate hand-picked by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. In the absence of competition, the election result was principally predetermined.
Kim Jong-un ran for office within the Mount Paektu district, a region of deep historical and symbolic importance to the North Korean regime. The mountain is usually related to the beginnings of the Kim dynasty.
On election day, Kim arrived on the polling station accompanied by his sister Kim Yo-jong, who appeared for the primary time at an official state ceremony.
State media portrayed the result because the nation’s “absolute support” for his or her supreme leader. According to official reports, turnout was one hundred pc for each vote forged for Kim.
An identical election was held in 2009, with a turnout of 99 percent and one hundred pc of the vote going to at least one approved candidate.
In addition to electing members of parliament, North Korea’s voting process also serves as a tool for monitoring citizen loyalty. Appearing at a polling station is obligatory, and failure to vote could be interpreted as an indication of disloyalty to the state.
Saddam Hussein: The 2002 Iraq Referendum
An identical scenario played out in Iraq throughout the 2002 referendum, when President Saddam Hussein was reported to have received one hundred pc of the “yes” vote from greater than 11 million registered voters. The referendum decided whether Saddam would hold the presidency for an additional seven years.
The ballot offered only two options: “Yes” to support Saddam Hussein’s continued rule and “No” to reject it. According to official results released by the Iraqi government, every voter selected “Yes”. Officials described the result as a show of public support for Saddam within the face of the specter of a military attack by the United States and Britain.
No international observers were allowed to watch the voting process, and foreign journalists were restricted to specific, tightly controlled areas.
This was not the primary time Saddam received almost complete approval. In the previous referendum in 1995, he reportedly won 99.96% of the vote.
The Iraqi government claimed that every one residents had forged their votes. Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, said the outcomes showed the willingness of the Iraqi people to defend their leader. He said: “We haven’t any opposition in Iraq.”
The 100% rating achieved in 2002 was widely publicized by the federal government as a logo of national unity and unwavering support for Saddam within the face of rising international tensions ahead of the invasion of Iraq.
The importance of one hundred pc in closed political systems
In authoritarian political systems, a unanimous election result often reflects the state’s complete control over the political process. In open democracies, voting results are expected to differ, making a 100% victory extremely rare.
Kim Jong-un and Saddam Hussein are examples of how elections could be held without opposition and real political competition. In each countries, elections didn’t serve residents to freely express their political will, but as a tool to legitimize absolute power.
