The tiny island nation of K’wang-Kwat has perfected democracy.

Every five years there is an open election for president. As not voting is a felony punishable by death, at each election, 100% of the nation’s of-age voters come out to the polls. The night prior, however, an independent counsel–made up of foreign dignitaries with personal interests only in the fact of the succession of the island’s presidency–goes from home-to-home administering a treatment made from the extract of k’wangleberry–the island’s most important and prevalent export. In high enough doses, such as those administered by the independent counsel, k’wangleberry has amnestic qualities, brainwashing the entire voting population into forgetting everything irrelevant to their personal well-being. For just long enough: They forget about human interest pieces, the botched publicity stunts, the back stories, and the gaffs. They forget about daily polls, the appeal of horse races, red herrings, and media bias. They forget about who their friends and family members are voting for. They forget who their co-workers are voting for. They forget who their boss is voting for. They forget about the issues that are brought up simply to get people angry. They forget about all the issues that are brought up simply to get people jaded. In short, they forget about everything that doesn’t have any direct effect on the quality of their individual lives. At the time that they vote, all they know is what they want out of life and that they should vote for whichever candidate they believe gives them the best shot at achieving this.

When the votes are tallied, the person with the most wins. There are no run-offs.

When a winner is selected, all of those who voted for other candidates—along with the candidates themselves—are promptly executed. This, of course, is something that would likely alter voting patterns if it was not brainwashed out of them as a result of the treatment administered by the independent counsel the night before.