Elections in North Korea

Elections in North Korea are held every four-to-five years for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), the country's national legislature, and every four years for Local People's Assemblies. Each candidate is preselected by the North Korean government and there is no option to write in other candidates, meaning that voters may either submit the ballot unaltered as a "yes" vote or request a pen to cross out the name on the ballot. Critics argue that North Korean elections are show elections which lack competition and allow the government to claim a veneer of pseudo-democratic legitimacy. A person's vote is not kept anonymous, and those who cross off the name on a ballot are often subject to legal and professional consequences. According to official reports, turnout is near 100%.

All seats are won by candidates approved in advance by the ruling party, with the vast majority of approved candidates coming from the ruling party itself. In 2010, the founding and ruling Workers' Party of Korea held 87.5% of the seats, with 7.4% for the Korean Social Democratic Party, 3.2% for the Chondoist Chongu Party, and 1.9% for independent deputies.

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