pseudoelections

Noun

pseudoelection (plural pseudoelections)

1. A 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