The elections are actually an intentional mockery of western elections. They're not thinking they're real, they're trying to make fun of us.

I'm not sure how it's supposed to work, but that's the idea anyway. Krout on youtube did a deep dive into three philosophers that Putin is on record as admiring, and one of them espouses this idea.

edit: Here it is. A warning, it's pretty dry.

https://youtu.be/sdFtqa54TuM