Made friends with a member of the CCP who got lotteries to take part in an election. This is what they said the procedure was:
All the chosen electors assembled in a big city hall, and were told about the election procedure which included which candidate needed to win the election.
Everyone took their turn to vote, but no one was allowed to leave the hall until after the votes had been counted.
I don't know a single person in the US who has unilateral control over anything. Hell, none of the US people mentioned can consistently get anything done.
And the CIA had to repeatedly send memos to Cold War presidents telling them Stalin wasn't an absolute dictator that could do anything he wanted on word alone.
But I'm sure Xi has more direct control. Definitely no bureaucratic manuevering involved in 2025 China.
I still think there should be an age limit on federal elected offices. Like 10 years older than retirement age as of the date of inauguration. Along with an annual required physical with public results.
But then again, I'd automatically void all personal NDA's at the moment anyone declared their candidacy for office.