Also courtesy of Columbia scourge Jacob Gershman, I’m reminded of the last “election” in Iraq.

It was a lot less suspenseful. From The Washington Post:

When Iraqis go to the polls Tuesday to endorse Saddam Hussein for another seven-year term as president, they will walk past banners exhorting them to vote “Yes, yes, yes for Saddam,” they will cast their votes in buildings festooned with his portrait and they will deposit ballots — coded to allow authorities to identify a voter’s decision — into boxes decorated with slogans of admiration for their leader.

As a consequence, the only real suspense about the outcome is whether Hussein will exceed the 99.96 percent affirmation he received in the last election.

There is a dark humor reading through the quotes from “voters” (hey, now some of them really are voters!):

* “God willing, this time it will be 100 percent,” said Kifah Kazem, 43, a sporting club manager. “It will be an expression of our love for our president.”

* At a Baghdad tea stall this morning, a group of men interviewed in the presence of an Information Ministry minder tried to outdo one another when asked at what time they would arrive. “I’ll be there at 8,” one man said. “I’ll be there before the doors open,” another interrupted. “I’ll arrive at 5 a.m.,” a third man interjected.

* “We are not obliged to come here,” said Marcelle David, a retired math teacher. “We are coming to vote because we want to show with all our hearts that we love our president.”

Hey, maybe John Kerry even believed them.