People think "I will vote to change this" rather than "I have no voice I will riot/stop paying taxes/occupy the capitol/grab a gun".

But elections have the downside of potentially changing things. The best way to mitigate that is to control what information people have access to. About candidates, about domestic and foreign policy, about viewpoints from outside your country, about the economy. Even just generally limit knowledge of history and culture other than what you're taught.

That is why there is such a massive pressure against free and open Internet in every country.