25 Interesting Facts about Elections

North Korea holds elections every 5 years, in which the ballots list only one candidate.

2. John Quincy Adams was elected the 6th President of the United States despite losing both the popular and electoral vote. No one won the majority, so the election went to the House of Representatives, where Adams had more friends than his competition.

3. In ancient Athens, each year citizens voted to banish any citizen from the city-state for 10 years.

4. The women of Utah gained the right to vote 50 years before the U.S. itself, in 1870. But since Utah women voted in ways favorable to end polygamy, the U.S. Congress revoked this right in 1887.

5. In the elections for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in 1988, the population was so unhappy with politicians, that a well-known monkey (Macaco Tião) of the local zoo received over 400,000 votes.

Ronald Reagan won in 49 out of 50 states during the 1984 United States presidential election, missing in only one by less than 4000 votes.

7. If women wouldn’t have voted in USA elections between 1968 and 2004, the Republicans would have swept all presidential elections (except one).

8. In Switzerland, a group of citizens may challenge a law passed by parliament, if they gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days. A national vote is scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law.

9. American astronauts on the ISS can vote in elections from orbit by secure email.

10. Women in New Zealand gained the right to vote in 1893, the first independent country to do so in modern times.

In 2010, a satirical political party in Reykjavik, Iceland, openly stated that they would keep none of their campaign promises. They won 34.7% of the city vote, with their founder, Jon Gnarr, a comedian becoming mayor.

12. Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the last king of Bhutan was so popular that his people protested when he revealed plans for democracy in 2011.

13. Senators in Mexico cannot immediately run for re-election and thus, the Senate is completely renewed every 6 years.

14. In Australia, voting is compulsory and citizens over 18 years of age are fined if they do not vote.

15. Saddam Hussein used Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" as his campaign song in the 2002 election.

In 1996, the New York Times had the name of the winner in the elections as a clue and it worked regardless of the candidate.

17. In 1927, Charles D. B. King won the presidential election in Liberia when he got 234,000 votes against the opponents 9,000. There were 15,000 registered voters in Liberia at the time.

18. Jehovah's Witnesses don't vote in any country, ever.

19. In order to become a Liechtenstein citizen, you must either be married to a Liechtenstein citizen for 3 years or live in the country for 3 years with a visa and have the entire country vote for whether or not you deserve citizenship, based on what you personally can add to the country.

20. The office of President of the US can be transferred to the Vice President if a majority of the cabinet votes that the sitting President is incapable of his duties. In theory, the cabinet could peacefully stage a coup and overthrow the president.

In 2010, a Brazilian clown named Tiririca became the second-most-voted congressman in Brazil's history, with 1,348,295 votes. In his election campaign, he used slogans such as "What does a federal congressman do? I really don't know – but if you vote for me, I'll tell ya" and "It can't get any worse, vote Tiririca."

22. During the 2013 elections in the Maldives, a coconut was detained on the suspicion of 'vote-rigging' through the use of black magic. A magician was called in and established that the coconut was innocent.

23. Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress voted against entering World War 1 in 1917, causing her to lose reelection in 1918. Elected again in 1940, she voted against entering World War 2 in 1941. Following the vote, she was forced to shelter in a phone booth while awaiting police escort.

24. In the 1896 U.S. election, William McKinley won despite the fact that he campaigned from the front porch of his home in Ohio while his opponent traveled extensively by railway speaking at over 600 events.

25. In the 1979 British Columbia election, MLA Frank Calder was defeated by one vote. He later admitted that he and his wife had neglected to vote.