This year North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il (김정일) was unanimously re-elected to office. His sons were also appointed to high government posts as well. Big surprise there!

The voting system in North Korea is basically the voting system elementary schools use to pick the class president. There are two boxes, one in favor of the candidate, the other being against the candidate. Even though voting is supposed to be in secret, there are government officials watching where you cast your vote. If you place your ballot in the “no” box, you’ll be secretly carted away to a work camp.

In America, voting is not mandatory. In North Korea, it’s absolutely mandatory. If you don’t vote, you can say hi to a work camp, so everyone votes. The only way government officials can keep track of the population is to count the number of votes. If the votes don’t add up, they’ll assume the person defected and kill the family members. As a result, there’s a lot of bribing that goes on in the polls. A nice bribe can influence a government official to record the person as deceased.

It’s one of these things that makes me glad I don’t live in North Korea.