Cash for votes and dogged determination

Many Indians have shown a commendable interest in and knowledge of the US elections, especially the variations in procedures from state to state. So, it should come as a surprise that there is one election there that invites participants from all over the world — for a fee of $1 per ballot. It is a novel way of increasing participation and financing elections, but, in this case, the proceeds go to the charity that organises the election as Rabbit Hash is an unincorporated municipality in Kentucky that elects only canines as mayors, whose terms coincide with that of the US president. Wilbur Beast, the six-month-old French bulldog that notched up 13,143 votes — nearly 28 times the human population he will preside over — succeeds Brynneth Pawltro, the pit bull elected on the same day as Donald Trump in 2016.

It may be noted that Mayor Brynn’s predecessor, Border Collie Lucy Lou, had set her sights on the US presidency along with fellow Kentuckian cat Limberbutt McCubbins from Louisville in 2016. Given the zeitgeist of diversity in 2020, the uninterrupted monopoly of canines in the mayoral office, especially of a place called Rabbit Hash, should make some sections hopping mad. But the presence of a donkey and a rooster among the candidates this time surely portends dramatic future changes.