[The Toll]

Why would they geremander districts?

It’s not like they actually intend to hold a real election! Come on people, get it through your heads, this guy’s a Chavista and has been from day one. It’s the plan.

[ctdonath2]

It's what I'm calling (for lack of a better term) the "one-off policy": they can't directly do certain things which are sociopolitically toxic, so they concoct a "one-off" strategy whereby they do what is acceptable on its face, but which is designed to come out completely differently. In this case, they cannot cancel elections outright, so they just re-arrange the data (by gerrymandering) so that the election results will give the results they want (a la the alleged Lenin quote (paraphrased) "voting does not matter; counting the votes does").

Yes, they WILL hold a real election. Heck, Saddam Hussein held real elections - with a ballot practically akin to: