US EnglishSpanishFrenchItalianGermanBrazilian PortugueseChineseJapaneseArabicSwedishTurkishPortugueseGreekPolish

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