Election Fever
As America goes to the polls, we take a sideways look at record-breaking
elections.
MOST VOTES FOR MR POTATO HEAD
In 1985, Mr Potato Head received
four postal votes in the mayoral election in Boise, Idaho, USA. Mr Potato
Head failed to win the election perhaps a good result, because Mr Potato
Head is a toy manufactured by Hasbro (USA).
MOST VOTES FOR A CHIMPANZEE
In the 1988 mayoral election campaign
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the anti-establishment Brazilian Banana Party
presented a chimp called Tião as their candidate. The chimpanzee came third
out of 12 candidates, taking just over 400,000 votes. Known for his moody
temper, his campaign slogan was "Vote monkey get monkey". Tião passed away
in December 1996, aged 33, in Rio zoo.
MOST VOTES FOR A PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCT
In 1967 in the small
Ecuadorian town of Picoaza (pop. 4,000), a brand of foot hygiene powder won
a mayoral election. The pharmaceutical company behind the Pulvapies brand of
powder ran a series of election-inspired adverts, such as "Vote for any
candidate, but if you want well-being and hygiene, vote for Pulvapies". The
advertising campaign coincided with an actual municipal election, and the
foot powder was voted in by the electorate on the strength of having more
postal votes!
HIGHEST PERSONAL MAJORITY
The highest-ever personal majority for
any politician was 4,726,112 in the case of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, the
people's deputy candidate for Moscow, in the parliamentary elections held in
the Soviet Union on 26 March 1989. Yeltsin (later President of the Russian
Federation) received 5,118,745 votes out of the 5,722,937, which were cast
in the Moscow constituency. His closest rival obtained just 392,633 votes.
LOWEST VOTER TURNOUT
Mali holds the record for the lowest voter
turnout in the world. Out of the 171 countries analyzed by the International
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Mali has just 21.7% voter
participation rate.
Australia leads in voter participation rate, probably because the
electorate is fined if no vote is placed!
MOST CANDIDATES ON A BALLOT PAPER
For the November 1994 municipal
elections in Prague, Czech Republic, there were 1,187 candidates on the
ballot for the single city constituency. The ballot paper measured 101.5 cm
x 71.5 cm (3 ft 4 in x 2 ft 4 in) and was delivered to all 1,018,527
eligible, registered voters, who could nominate up to 55 candidates for the
55 available seats.
The second-longest ballot was for the 2003 election of the governor of
California, with 135 candidates. Movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger won.
MOST MONEY SPENT PER VOTE
Michael R. Bloomberg, the Republican
candidate for the 6 November 2001 New York City mayoral election, spent
$92.60 for each of the 744,757 votes he won against Democrat Mark Green. According to campaign documents filed with the NYC Board of Elections,
Billionaire Bloomberg spent a total of $68,968,185 on his mayoral campaign
more than the $48.6 million Steve Forbes spent on his 2000 presidential
campaign.
04 November 2008