A man from Canada made history by becoming the first candidate to receive zero votes in a closely contested federal election, according to CBC News.
After placing his name on the ballot in a recent Toronto-St. Paul's by-election, 45-year-old Felix-Antoine Hamel got 0 votes on Monday.
In Canada's history, he is the only federal candidate to receive no votes in a contested campaign.
"When I saw the result, I was like, 'Well, I am the true unity candidate. Everyone agrees not to vote for me,'" Hamel told CBC News.
Hundreds of past candidates received no votes, according to a Library of Parliament database. But in those cases, the candidates still won their seats because they ran unopposed. The last such acclaimed seat was won in a 1957 byelection in Lanark, Ontario.
Hamel said he put his name forward as a candidate after his friend, who works with the electoral reform advocacy group called the Longest Ballot Committee, approached him.
He said he wasn't expecting to make a mark in the history books and chuckled at the suggestion that his name could become an obscure answer to a pub trivia night question.
"I'm one of the last people that would be expected to make Canadian history in any way," he said.
The news outlet further mentioned that Hamel couldn't even cast a ballot in Toronto-St Paul's he doesn't live there. He also admits he puts almost no effort into campaigning.
"Anything could happen... It's our democracy; that's how it works, and it can sometimes be totally absurd," he said.
Hamel expressed his satisfaction with bringing attention to electoral reform. He also appreciated the opportunity to participate in a fair democratic process, highlighting his concern about the decline of democracies globally.
"As long as I have the right and the privilege to get zero votes in an election, then we are truly in a democracy," he said.
