During the journey from being the Soviet Union to being Russia as it is now, there were elections which had power and in which people could vote none of the above. If none of the above got above fifty percent of the vote, the election had to be held again. That did happen sometimes, and it focussed the attention of the politicians wonderfully.

In countries that haven't had real elections and then do, people often notice and like less corruption. Not the new heaven and the new earth, but better behavior.