http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030318_622.html
Saddam, bin Laden, Get Votes in Finland
Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden Are Among Odd Write-Ins in Finnish Election
The Associated Press
HELSINKI, Finland March 18 —
Saddam Hussein's time might be running out, but he can take small comfort that at least one Finn thought he should serve in the Nordic country's parliament.
The ballot for the Iraqi president was among 24,400 rejected votes, representing nearly 1 percent of the total votes cast in Sunday's national elections for the 200-seat parliament.
Some 70 percent of Finland's eligible 4.2 million voters cast their ballots in the election.
Other unusual vote winners included Osama bin Laden, who got a pair of votes, Cuban leader Fidel Castro with one vote, and the classic French character Obelix.
But in true Nordic fashion, it was Donald Duck, one banned by a Finnish city library for not wearing pants, who got the most votes, even more than Mickey Mouse.
"Donald got about a dozen votes. He always wins," said Heikki Liljeroos, second secretary of the Helsinki electorate committee.
Finnish voters cast their ballots at some 3,000 polling stations nationwide, writing the number of their preferred candidate inside a circle on a piece of paper, typically in pencil. The paper is folded over and stamped by an election official before dropped inside the ballot box.
All ballots are handcounted.
If a ballot is scribbled, empty, illegible or has an invalid number on it, it is automatically rejected.
In the last election in 1999, 28,800 ballots were rejected, representing 1.1 percent of all votes cast.
Saddam, bin Laden, Get Votes in Finland
Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden Are Among Odd Write-Ins in Finnish Election
The Associated Press
HELSINKI, Finland March 18 —
Saddam Hussein's time might be running out, but he can take small comfort that at least one Finn thought he should serve in the Nordic country's parliament.
The ballot for the Iraqi president was among 24,400 rejected votes, representing nearly 1 percent of the total votes cast in Sunday's national elections for the 200-seat parliament.
Some 70 percent of Finland's eligible 4.2 million voters cast their ballots in the election.
Other unusual vote winners included Osama bin Laden, who got a pair of votes, Cuban leader Fidel Castro with one vote, and the classic French character Obelix.
But in true Nordic fashion, it was Donald Duck, one banned by a Finnish city library for not wearing pants, who got the most votes, even more than Mickey Mouse.
"Donald got about a dozen votes. He always wins," said Heikki Liljeroos, second secretary of the Helsinki electorate committee.
Finnish voters cast their ballots at some 3,000 polling stations nationwide, writing the number of their preferred candidate inside a circle on a piece of paper, typically in pencil. The paper is folded over and stamped by an election official before dropped inside the ballot box.
All ballots are handcounted.
If a ballot is scribbled, empty, illegible or has an invalid number on it, it is automatically rejected.
In the last election in 1999, 28,800 ballots were rejected, representing 1.1 percent of all votes cast.
