At least 44 of you voted for Harambe for public office
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The race for Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor in this year’s election had an open write-in. The results were predictable.
44 people in Mecklenburg County voted for Harambe for the office, according to records from the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections.
As a candidate, the deceased gorilla out-polled eight candidates who (presumably) were actually seeking the position. Harambe still was more than 86,000 votes from winning, however.
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Harambe in happier times at the Cincinnati Zoo. Photo by Jason Miklacic via Flickr (Creative Commons)
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Also receiving votes:
Cam Newton (11)
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By the way, Brad Johnson — who was seeking to keep his seat — won this race.
He’s an environmental science professor at Davidson. In this role, he’s responsible for helping oversee natural resource concerns like stream erosion and soil loss.
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Photo by Brad Johnson via Facebook
What, no Harambe for president?
The gorilla undoubtedly received votes for the highest office in the land as well. 5,937 people in Mecklenburg County wrote in a candidate for president who was not Jill Stein.
But North Carolina uses a process called “certified write-ins” for the presidential race. The only way to have your write-in campaign counted is to submit 500 signatures to the State Board of Elections ahead of time. Harambe failed to do this.
Stein pulled only 1,352 votes in the election.
Photo by Kyle McCarthy via Flickr (Creative Commons)