North Dakota Candidate Wins Election After Dying of COVID

(RT); Democracy is alive and kicking in the US (for now) – unlike some of the victors in Tuesday’s elections, after a dead man won a seat in North Dakota’s state legislature. David Andahl, 55, was a Republican nominee for one of two District 8 House seats in the general election. Despite dying of coronavirus in October, Andahl bagged 35 percent of the vote on election night, securing one of the seats. He defeated the very much living Democrats Kathrin Volochenko and Linda Babb. Andahl’s mother previously told the Bismarck Tribune that her son had been hospitalized with Covid-19, sadly dying from complications caused by the virus on October 5. At this point, early voting had already been going on for two weeks, so Secretary of State Al Jaeger said it was too late to remove the deceased from the ballot. State Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem also issued an opinion at the time, stating votes for Andahl should still be counted, and that a vacancy would be created if he were elected. That vacancy could now be appointed by a legislative member’s party or voters could petition for a special election to be called by the governor. Let’s hope the candidates don’t copy Andahl’s vote-winning strategy.