BUCHAREST, ROMANIA—After handing Ion Aliman victory in the election for their local mayor, residents of a small village in southern Romania went to his grave to light candles for him. Aliman was reelected in a landslide for an unprecedented third term as mayor of the village of Deveselu despite having died from COVID-19 complications 10 days before the country’s municipal elections. To honor the man they admired, hundreds of Deveselu villagers went to the polling stations on Sunday and voted for Aliman anyway. Victory candles in graveAfter preliminary election results showed late Sunday that Aliman had won 1,057 out of the 1,600 votes cast in Deveselu, a large group of villagers visited his grave to light candles and pay their respects. According to partial preliminary results, PSD is unlikely to regain power in the Dec. 6 parliamentary vote.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 29, 2020 10:41 UTC