Only in Australia

I was reading the NSW State Electoral Office's web site (don't ask) and came across this:

The Least Successful Election

The worst ever election was held in June 1974 when the voters of a town in Western Australia re-elected as mayor the man whose death had caused the election in the first place.

Apologising to the 8,731 electors who had voted to have the mayor reinstated for a further year, the town clerk apparently described the occurrence as a bad mistake. It was, he said, the result of confusion on the part of those preparing the ballot paper.

When it was announced that the mayor had been elected by a sizeable majority, there was, not surprisingly, a considerable public outcry, not least from the sister-in-law of the deceased. On hearing the result, she said, "I know George was very popular with the townsfolk, but I was still surprised to hear his election victory announced on the radio, driving back from the crematorium."