The special election thing was Republicans trying to limit the power of the incoming Democratic Governor.
It's likely unconstitutional, and Bashear has indicated that he'll ignore it when the time comes. Also the Republicans are terrified of any election at this point.
They delay now to barely "hold" the seat, hoping that Trump somehow becomes competent before November.
In 2023, China had over 700 million cameras tracking the population.
That's one camera for every two citizens.
But yes the UK is also building a surveillance state.