I read it as a causal argument based on a counter-factual. If some day an opposition would have won (given free press etc) but was prevented from winning because of gerrymandering, a biased court, payoffs, and voter suppression, then you could no longer call that country democratic. History shows again and again that any autocratic regime will not have overwhelming popular support forever. But once the conditions for democratic governance are gone, they are very difficult to restore.

What would the vote counts have been, exactly, without the gerrymandering, payoffs, control over public information, etc? Please give me the numbers.

(I would also point out that the vote counts in autocratic nations tend to remain very impressive long past the point where the government has lost public support.)