The electoral process for the Soviet Union was only that of the party. Party members voted in the Party Congress, which elected the Central Committee, which later elected the Politburo, the highest decision making body. In the Politburo, all our dear communists were there: Stalin, Trotsky, Lenin, Bukharin and others.
But then, only party members voted in the institutions that in actuality controlled the country. Quite a comfortable pre-selected body of voters for the Communist elite to look down to.
The person responsible for controlling and scrutinizing party membership admission, was no one else but Joseph Stalin.
For every institution that was elected in the Soviet Union, only the Communist party or its sub-branches were allowed to nominate candidates.
Only a logical conclusion after all other political parties were banned. In addition, Lenin had banned factions within the party itself, declaring that once taken, his decisions were binding to all Communists.
So much for democracy.
Lenin never specified who he wanted to succeed him. It is only a matter of speculation. He attacked and praised all party members, but he was very critical of Stalin, and he clearly stated that he wanted him out of the post of General Secretary, a post which later allowed him to gain power.
Sorry for raising up this discussion again, but I wanted to write my bit on the subject.