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A show election is an election that is held purely for show, that is, without any significant political purpose. Show elections are a common event in dictatorial regimes that still feel the need to establish some element of public legitimacy.
Ballots in a show election may be in the form of a simple "yes or no" question on the ruler's leadership. A pre-determined conclusion is always established by the regime, either through coersion of voters or flat-out vote rigging.
Show elections were commonly seen in the Soviet Union, as well as dictatorships such as Iraq and Uganda.
Often times the "results" of a show election are quite obviously one-sided to the point of absurdity, with leaders claiming mandates of 90% or higher, which almost never occurs in a free democratic election. There have even been cases in which rulers have claimed a mandate which excedes the actual population of their nation.
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