

Elections are a cornerstone of autocracies. All of the most brutal dictators have elections, and they get 90% of the vote.
Free and fair elections, OTOH, are nowhere to be seen. And that’s a critical difference - they won’t be cancelled, so there won’t be the obvious line in the sand. Voter suppression and disenfranchisement, which is already happening, will continue and accelerate. But most of it will have a heavy coat of marketing, to convince people that those groups don’t really deserve to vote.
Imagine choosing Trump over your own wife, even if you hate her.