Voters Re-Elect Dead Man As Local Mayor
Posted June 17, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If you’re like most voters, there are probably a number of politicians you simply can’t stand. In fact, if you’re like most voters, you may feel that way about all of them.
But how much do you really have to despise a candidate for this to happen? Citizens of a Romanian village went to the polls in a mayoral election Sunday, and elected a dead man instead of his opponent.
Neculai Ivascu ran the small hamlet of Voinesti for nearly 20 years. But during the hard fought campaign, he suddenly died from liver disease. It appears his sole opponent for the post would win by default. But the voters had other ideas.
They re-elected the 57-year-old despite the fact he’s no longer amongst the living. The dead man won by a margin of 23 votes. Why would people cast their ballots for a politician who can’t serve? “I know he died, but I don’t want change,” one citizen told a Romanian TV station.
In the end, it was a moot point. Challenger – and loser in more ways than one – Gheorghe Dobrescu wound up getting the post anyway. But that’s left some of the electorate irate and they’re demanding a new vote be held immediately.
You might call it a sudden death playoff.
