don't bribe or engage in money politics when inviting people to elect him, another thing is that there is public space to control it.
The thing is that these running candidates often target those in poverty and they offer them money and support so of course what stupid person will say no to help right? But the short term benefit will result to a longer destruction of the country and the system. Some have given up on the country and do not want to even partake anymore in the election
That is a very common and sadly a very effective for authoritarian governments to control the population, specially those who are not educated enough to see beyond their basic and immediate needs. Actually, of you take a look on the arguments people who are against the rule of socialism and communism says, they will often give you examples about how current authoritarian governments use the needs of people to access to food, education, shelter and even health to control their vote.
Here in Venezuela, the president and the rest of the people who is involved in high politics try to make an emphasis on how good they are because they have programs (which are very ineffective) to offer people food, money and shelter. Though, they do not mention the existence of organized groups who take note on whether someone has voted against them during a presidential or general election, so they can withdraw all those benefits from those who received them and dared to vote against.
That is simply not a democracy, it is the lowest class of politics one could ever found. In the contemporary history of humanity and it is going on right now as we speak.