Non-human electoral candidates

Non-human electoral candidates have been found in a number of countries. Often, the candidacies are a means of casting a protest vote or satirizing the political system. Other times, it is simply done for the entertainment value.

Electoral regulations may explicitly require candidates to be human (or equivalent wording) (notably, the United States presidency has no such specific requirement, only age, residency and natural-born citizenship), or may require candidates to do things which animals cannot reasonably do (such as sign their name legibly on a legal form). On some occasions, however, animals have been accepted as candidates, and have even won office.

Examples

• Incitatus, the horse of Caligula, who it is alleged became a consul and a priest.^[1][2]
• Molly the Dog, a dachshund from Oklahoma, named as a candidate in the U.S. presidential election, 2008.^[3]
• Morris the cat "ran" as a candidate in the U.S. presidential election, 1988 and the U.S. presidential election, 1992.^[4]
• Pigasus the Immortal, a boar hog that the Yippies nominated as a candidate in the U.S. presidential election, 1968.
• Cacareco, a rhinoceros at the São Paulo zoo, was a candidate for the 1958 city council elections with the intention of protesting against political corruption.^[5] Electoral officials, of course, did not accept Cacareco's candidacy, but he eventually won 100,000 votes, more than any other party in that same election (which was also marked by rampant absenteeism). Today, the term "Voto Cacareco" (Cacareco vote) is commonly used to describe protest votes in Brazil. Cacareco's candidacy inspired the Rhinoceros Party of Canada, nominally led by the rhinoceros Cornelius the First.
• Tião, a bad-tempered chimpanzee, was put forward by the fictional Brazilian Banana Party (Partido Bananista Brasileiro, actually the satirical group Casseta & Planeta) as a candidate for the Rio de Janeiro mayoralty in 1988. The campaign's slogan was "Vote monkey - get monkey" (because people were tired of voting for one platform and then seeing the elected officials implementing another one). There is no official counting (because all votes were recorded as "null"), but it's estimated that Tião received over 400,000 votes, coming third.^[6][7][8]
• Katten Mickelin (Mickelin the Cat) was the leader of the Swedish Ezenhemmer Plastic Bags and Child Rearing Utensils Party.
• New Zealand's McGillicuddy Serious Party entered a goat in a local Waiheke Island election, but their attempt to have a hedgehog stand for Parliament was unsuccessful.
• Dustin the Turkey, a popular Irish television puppet received thousands of votes in the Republic of Ireland's 1997 presidential election. Although not being an official candidate there are rumours that he came in fifth, ahead of official candidate Derek Nally.
• United States film maker Michael Moore attempted to get a potted ficus tree onto the ballot as a candidate for United States Representative in 2000.^[9]
• Donald Duck has often been nominated for student body president in schools by students who wish to play jokes or those who do not care about student body elections and are made to vote when they would rather not participate. Although other cartoon characters have been nominated, as well as TV characters such as those from Pee Wee's Playhouse, Gilligan's Island, or The Beverly Hillbillies, Donald Duck has gained a reputation as the perennial candidate for student government.
• Ed the Sock, a fictional sock puppet, attempted to run for the Fed-Up Party during the Canadian federal election, 2011.

Several animals in the US have been elected mayors of small towns such as Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, whose mayor is a black lab named Junior Cochran, and Lajitas, Texas, whose mayor is a beer-drinking goat named Clay Henry III. Both Rabbit Hash and Lajitas are unincorporated towns where the mayoralty is purely a ceremonial position, not an actual leader of government.

• Boston Curtis, a brown mule, was offered as a candidate for a Republican precinct seat in Milton, Washington in 1938, winning 52 to zero.^[10][11]
• The mayor of Sunol, California was, for 10 years (1981-1990), a black Labrador-Rottweiler named Bosco.^[12]
• In 1989, regional council boundaries were redrawn, with an emphasis on catchments being connected. These revised maps made Whangamomona, NZ part of the Manawatu-Wanganui Region. Residents wanted to continue to be part of the Taranaki Region, and on 1 November 1989, they responded by declaring themselves the "Republic of Whangamomona" at the first Republic Day. At every Republic Day, they vote to either keep the seating President or to vote in a new one. Since 1999, they have had Billy Gumboot the Goat (1999-2001) and Tai the Poodle (2003-2004), the current incumbent being Murt "Murtle the Turtle" Kennard (2005-Present).
• In 2001 a Dachshund called Saucisse (Sausage), was a candidate for Marseille (France) municipal elections. He won 4% of votes. Eight years later, in 2009, he participated the third season of Secret Story, the French version of Big Brother. He entered the house on Day 36. His secret is that he was a candidate at the election of Marseille Mayor. To protect his secret, he entered the house with the nickname "Secret".
• In 2006, a famous prankster and street artist from Szeged, Hungary, proclaimed himself the founder of the Hungarian Double-tailed Dog Party, going as far as to place propaganda ads out on the walls of Szeged's houses, promoting the candidate "István Nagy", a two-tailed dog.

Folklore and pop culture

The notion of animals being elected to office have often been the subject of parody and folklore. In 1972, American singer Tom T. Hall had a hit with a recording entitled "The Monkey That Became President" which considered a scenario in which said animal was elected to office.

See also

• List of animals with fraudulent diplomas
• List of frivolous political parties
• Jedi census phenomenon

References

1. ^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Caligula 55; Cassius Dio, Roman History LIX.14, LIX.28
2. ^ Gaius Caligula - Roman Emperor (12 - 41 AD), h2g2
3. ^ Molly the dog
4. ^ http://www.jiffynotes.com/a_study_guides/book_notes_add/emmc_0001_0001_0/emmc_0001_0001_0_00133.html
5. ^ Cacareco
6. ^ Tião's home page
7. ^ Tião's 31st birthday, O Estado de S. Paulo, 1994-01-16
8. ^ Rio Zoo completes 60 years, O Estado de S. Paulo, 2005-03-18
9. ^ Plant candidate
10. ^ "Boston Curtis." Time Magazine. Published 26 Sept. 1938. Accessed 11 Jan. 2008.
11. ^ Boston Curtis
12. ^ Vanderbilt Television News Archive