Ask stupid question, get stupid answer 🤷‍♂️

Ballot secrecy only works if everyone is convinced their votes are secret and they won't be punished for a "wrong" vote. It doesn't matter if they can't or won't punish you, what matters is that people are afraid to cast an honest vote. Thus the vote is compromised, regardless of the mechanics of elections in a dictatorship.

It's all a sham, it doesn't make one iota of difference what's on that piece of paper in a transparent box. That soldier is what this whole scene is about. That's not a circlejerk, it's being able to distinguish important from unimportant. You're seeing straight up voter intimidation and your response is "I wonder if this is the actual ballot or an attendance sheet" lol