TELL magazine: December 2020 - Emanuel Synagogue

{A GREAT DAY FOR DEMOCRACY}
By Reverend Sam Zwarenstein
"I love voting day. I love the sight of my fellow citizens lining up to make their
voices heard."
- Beth Broderick
Elections of any sort, in many
organisations, states, provinces
or countries, can be complex and
complicated matters, and they have
the propensity to confuse the voters
and people living in those areas,
never mind those who have little or
no knowledge or experience with
such matters.
Elections in the USA always provide
a classic example of this, and that’s
without having to go anywhere past
the presidential election. 2020 has
certainly produced lots of unexpected
and harrowing experiences; we
always knew this was going to be a
hotly contested and debated election.
Perhaps, therefore, we may not
have been all that surprised to have
endured innumerable explanations
of how the electoral college system
works, and the various possible
permutations and contentions as
the race to 270 (and therefore the
presidency) had billions of people
impatiently waiting for each update.
In line with the wonders this year
has brought us, these elections threw
another curveball. In addition to
the presidential election, a number
of other elections took place, some
pertaining to seats within each state.
In North Dakota there were four
candidates seeking election in the 8th
district, where two seats were being
contested for the state legislature.
One of those candidates was David
Andahl, a Bismarck native, and
12
clearly a popular individual, as he
managed to garner close on 36%
of the vote in that district, and
thereby a seat. Are you ready for the
curveball? David Andahl died on
5th October, from COVID-19. Yes,
they elected a candidate who died 29
days before the election. The North
Dakota Attorney General (Wayne
Stenehjem) said that the state's court
system uses the "American" rule,
"where votes cast for the deceased
candidate should be counted”.
In keeping with all matters relating
to these elections, there is a fair
amount of conjecture as to who gets
to fill that seat, even though the law
provides a process for such cases.
While this would be an interesting
set of arguments to follow, it does
not detract from the fact that a
dead person managed to get elected,
Successful candidate, David Andahl
having died close on a month before
the election.
In America alone, since 2000 there
have been no less than six candidates
(and it’s possible there are more), for
mayoral, state and federal elections,
who died leading up to their respective
election, but were still elected. There
are many similar stories around the
world and throughout the ages that
should leave us gobsmacked, or at
the very least, bewildered.
Yet, as the classic saying goes - here
we are.
When this type of story appears in a
book or a movie or a play, it is usually
one part of a theme, or perhaps it
is the main theme itself. After all,
fiction, drama and amazement are
all part of the game. However, what