18 June 2008

The electors of Voinestl in Romania have voted to re-elect a dead man as their mayor. Neculai Ivascu - who led Voinesti for almost two decades - died from a liver disease on Sunday, too late to cancel the contest. But the village's loyal residents still gave him 23 more votes than his rival, Gheorghe Dobrescu of the ruling National Liberal Party.


In a controversial decision, the electoral commission declared the runner-up and rival Mr Dobrescu the winner. Neculai Ivascu's party, the opposition Social Democrat Party, has said it will contest the decision.


The election of a corpse as mayor of Voinesti is not unprecedented of course. We only need to cast our mind back to the US elections in 2000 when the voters of Missouri had the option of electing John Ashcroft, the incumbent senator, or the late Mel Carnahan. Aschroft/dead man? Dead man/Ashcroft? The voters of Missouri chose not to elect the candidate with a pulse....

13 comments:

beakerkin said...

Jams

I hope politicians do not use this as a resume builder. Party hack c is about to die so lets campaign that a dead politician can do less harm than a live one.

Liz Hinds said...

I'd read about that on ... someone else's blog but I didn't know about the American one. What was that film where voters were given the option 'None of the above'? (An American comedy starring Richard Pryor maybe.)

Sarge Charlie said...

Maybe we can get Ronald Reagen on this years ballot.

Rebecca said...

So does this mean we might be able to re-elect Reagan again? :0 Man, they must be seriously unhappy with their lot of canidates to choose a dead guy, but I completely understand their frustrations. 8-)

Cinnamon Girl said...

It broke ground for electing a president with no brain :P

jams o donnell said...

To be honest a corpse can't actually do any harm. The only stench of corruption is the one of decomposition!

TorAa said...

I've often asked myself:
How many countries do have what I consider a real democracy?
Is it enough to have 51% of "their" people in a parliament, then rule as they want, or also think about the 49% that did not give "them" their votes.

For me, democracy is first and last a matter of respect.

excellent post

ps. we are still in sorrow - but I do post from time to time

jams o donnell said...

Respect is a crucial issue. At present there is scant respect for politicians, Tor!

CherryPie said...

It makes a point doesn't it!!

jams o donnell said...

It certainly does Cherie!

Steve Bates said...

"The only stench of corruption is the one of decomposition!" - jams

Well, they say that's what Beethoven is doing in his grave: decomposing...

"Aschroft/dead man? Dead man/Ashcroft?" - jams

No real question there, if you believe in free and open, representative government. The corpse has to be preferable!

jams o donnell said...

Haha Steve! Seriously I know US elections are slightly different. In the UK the election would be cancelled if one of the candidates dies.

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