There are about 90 core developers who can vote. At most 30 of those are active and have any clue of what happens on the issue tracker or discuss.python.org.
For the other 60, if someone was friendly to them 30 years ago, they still think he is a awesome chap even if he is now a venomous bureaucrat.
Approval voting is used, and SC members often sail through with just 30 of 90 votes. The pool of candidates is limited due to lack of interest and the perception that only the inner circle will somehow get the required low bar of around 30 votes. Also, people are intimidated since the SC ruins careers and gets away with lying.
The whole thing has the dynamics of a high school party where somewhat popular people dominate the scene and a handful of intelligent people stand in the corner and wonder where the popularity comes from.
It is all a deeply unprofessional setup.
