A show election, also known as a sham election or rubber stamp election, is an election that is held purely for show, that is, without any significant political purpose. Show elections are a common event in dictatorial regimes that still feel the need to establish some element of public legitimacy.

Results predictably show that nearly 100% of all eligible voters vote and that nearly 100% of those eligible voters vote for the prescribed (often only) list of candidates for office or for referendums that favor the political party in power irrespective of economic conditions and the cruelties of the government, as in elections in North Korea.

Ballots in a show election may also be in the form of a simple "yes or no" question on the ruler's leadership. Often people who pick "no" were persecuted, thus really making the ballot choice a "yes" only ballot (the elections in North Korea, for instance, require a voter to publicly reject the official candidate). A predetermined conclusion is always established by the regime, either through coercion of voters, vote rigging, or just making up an arbitrary number of "votes received" (e.g., the State of Vietnam referendum, 1955). Some dictatorships ensure results by suppressing opposition or maintaining a token opposition that is never allowed to become a viable political force.

There have been cases in which rulers have claimed a mandate which exceeded the actual population of their nation, e.g., Charles D. B. King of Liberia.

In some cases, show elections can backfire disastrously against the party in power, especially if the regime believe they are popular enough to win without coercion or fraud, e.g., in the Burmese general election, 1990