Chinese official on SMS voting: txtng votes ripe 4 abuse
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2008/03/chinese-official-on-sms-voting-txtng-votes-ripe-4-abuse
From the page
Saved with the link. Notes from 2007 to 2016 are mostly the page's own words, so this is probably an excerpt.
Believe it or not, some officials in China are elected by way of text message votes, much as you would vote for your favorite contestant on American Idol. At least one official says that system is being abused, though, and has called for a ban on the practice.